


Gibraltar University

by FazedMuttley



Series: Gibraltar University [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, M/M, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, shy lena
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-03
Updated: 2018-05-25
Packaged: 2019-03-03 15:01:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13343682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FazedMuttley/pseuds/FazedMuttley
Summary: Gibraltar University. Amélie came here to prove to her parents she was her own person. After a bad breakup, she has her friends for support. However the University has decided she needs a roommate. Amélie is not happy... at first.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I had writers block, and wanted to work through it. So I picked a random ship and set sail, this is what I ended up with. 
> 
> Feel free to leave your thoughts or ideas in the comments should you wish to. :)

Nestled atop the rocks of Gibraltar overlooking the Mediterranean sat a University, people often said that the site would be more suited to some form of military complex, however it was home to a school that catered for students of all kinds, from all backgrounds and countries.

 

The dorms of the University were nestled into the sides of the cliff face connected to the university grounds above by stairs and elevators. Each dorm consisted of a shared central communal area that contained a small kitchen and dining area as well as a lounge, running off this central room were a series of three bedrooms that each housed two students and one shared bathroom.

 

Amélie Guillard was currently undertaking the laborious task of making herself presentable before she even considered leaving her dorm room, her shower earlier that morning did not count, she could hear the voices of her dorm mates outside as they got ready for whatever they had planned for what was the final weekend before classes restarted on Monday following the Christmas and New Year break.

 

Amélie had received an email yesterday evening from the Administrator informing her that her new roommate would be arriving the following morning, which meant anytime now. Amélie was naturally displeased by this development, she had had the room to herself for the entirety of the first term much to the shared annoyance of her dorm mates and until recently her ex-girlfriend among others had often used the spare bed on occasion, Amélie glanced at the bed in the mirror and glared at it before turning her attention back to her makeup.

 

Once she was happy with her appearance she changed into her selected outfit for the day with was a pair of dark jeans, black knee-high boots, a plain purple shirt and a deep brown leather jacket, she looked in the mirror again and adjusted the collar of her jacket before checking her hair. She noticed her roots were coming through, she would have to get it re-dyed soon having grown used to the dark purple hue. It was originally just a rebellious act against her parents who had such high hopes that she would follow in their footsteps and work within and take over the family business when the time came.

 

Not that she had ever considered it, Amélie wanted to be an artist, she wanted to paint, draw and dance not sit behind a desk all day managing finances and various other meaningless tasks for her father’s law firm and she made sure to let him know whenever the chance arose. She sighed and pulled her long hair into a high ponytail and brushed her fringe to the left, so it partially covered her eye, she smiled at her reflection and picked up her phone sliding it into her pocket as a soft series of knocks came from the door.

 

As far as she knew all her dorm mates had left for the day and she was the last one around, and even so they usually knocked once and if she gave no objection they entered freely. She sighed realising that this was most likely her new roommate. She stalked over to the door and pulled it open as the visitor began to knock again.

 

The person on the other side of the door was shorter than Amélie with her fist still raised ready to knock, she was clearly shocked by the door suddenly opening, her roommate lowered her arm and had to look up at Amélie to make eye contact.

 

The girl had short and quite messy brown hair styled, if you could call it that, into a loose bob, there was a light dusting of freckles across her pale skin, showing prominently on her cheeks, she also possessed a pair of rather striking brown eyes beneath a pair of circular glasses that distinctly reminded Amélie of those worn by Harry Potter. She spared a glance down and noted that the girl was wearing a pair worn red converse, faded blue jeans that had seen better days, was that a tear in the left knee? and to top it all off she was wearing an old aviation jacket that was at least a size if not two bigger than her which caused it to hang of her lithe frame.

 

“You must be Lara, _non_?” Amélie said keeping her voice even.

 

“Lena” she replied softly in a cockney accent looking at her feet seeming somewhat shy, perhaps this would work out after all.

 

“My name is Amélie, Step into my parlour. Yours is the left side of the room, you should have all you need” Amélie spoke softly as she let the girl pass her and watched as she placed her bag on the bed, the bag itself had itself had also seen better days. “I am expected elsewhere, please refrain from touching my things. _Au revoir_.” With that Amélie closed the door and made to leave the dorms ignoring the suitcase outside her door as she selected what music to listen to on her walk across campus.

 

The stores on campus were all located towards the centre of the complex a decent distance away from lecture theatres and other academic facilities, save for the library, gym and pool which were in the same location.

 

The location itself was called the Kings Row. In the centre of the ‘row’ was a small café named ‘Brewed Awakening’ which was Amélie’s destination. Upon arrival she pulled her headphones from her ears before sliding them into her pocket as she looked through the window noting that the queue was almost out of the door, she groaned and went inside.

 

As she was about to join the back she felt her phone go off in her pocket, pulling it free she had one new message:

 

[11:23] [Angela]: Back booth! <3.

 

When Amélie looked up towards the back of the café she saw the medical student sat in a booth as the blonde gave a slight wave before beckoning her over, so Amélie went to join her sliding into the seat directly opposite. Angela, it seemed had already been served and judging by the warmth of the drink that she had just pushed in front of Amélie it had happened recently. Amélie brought the mug straight to her lips and let out a long-satisfied sigh once she had taken a drink, Amélie gave a nod of thanks to her friend.

 

Angela smiled over Amélie’s shoulder before she could speak causing her to look around, standing there was none other than her new roommate Lena Oxton who came forward a few steps, so she was stood next to the table, clearly taking Angela’s smile as an invitation, which in truth was probably true.

 

“Can I help you?” Amélie asked coldly.

 

“I…” Lena tried but nervously looked down at her scruffy converse and Amélie sighed as the girl reached into her pocket “Y-you left this on your dresser” in her hand was Amélie’s identification card to allow her entry to the dorms, she snatched it from the girls grasp and looked it over.

 

“You followed me all this way?” Amélie asked and the girl nodded which she responded to with a glare, she hated being followed. Lena once again looked down and turned to leave the café without a further word.

 

Slipping the ID in her pocket Amélie picked up her mug and took another drink, it wasn’t until she returned the mug to the table did she see Angela giving her a death glare with her arms crossed.

 

“ _Dummkopf_ ” Angela snapped, but before she could reply another voice chimed up.

 

“Damn _Chica_ , that was harsh even for you” Olivia said as she took the seat next to Angela when she moved over to give her space.

 

“That’s the new girl isn’t it?” Angela pressed “The one they paired with you”

 

“ _Oui_ ” Amélie replied.

 

“What her name, she’s kind of cute” Olivia said with a smug smile.

 

“I heard that” Hana Song said as she neared the table with two drinks, Amélie sighed and moved further into the booth so Hana could take a seat and prepared herself for another lecture.

 

“Not as cute as you _bebé”_ Olivia replied smiling at the Korean girl who blushed as she pushed a drink towards her.

 

“What’s her name?” Angela demanded.

 

“Lena” Amélie replied and pulled out her phone which the medical student promptly snatched and pocketed. “ _Angela, rends-moi ça, maintenat!”_

_“Nein!”_ Angela replied refusing to give the French girl back her phone “I know you are hurting Liebling, but you can’t keep acting like this, that girl, Lena was clearly afraid of you! Considering you are her roommate that’s not a good thing Amélie. We understand why you feel the way you do, but you have to move on”

 

“Giselle, broke my heart!” Amélie snapped. It was true there wasn’t much else to say when you find your girlfriend in bed with another and to then have them blame you for their betrayal.

 

“You’re better off, she was a manipulative _perra_ ” Olivia spoke softly while looking at Amélie and was promptly punched in the arm by Angela.

 

“Not helpful” Angela chided.

 

“Well neither is Miss Resting Bitch Face over here. She already mortified the new girl” Hana added gesturing to Amélie who reminded silent, but Hana did not, she released a series of Korean curses directed at Angela when the blonde kicked her under the table.

 

An awkward silence fell over the group and Amélie who wanted to keep it that way refused to make eye contact with any of her friends or start a conversation, so she directed her attention to the café around them and focused on the décor. From the red walls and pictures of London Landmarks to the replica street signs and over memorabilia that covered spaces on the walls and shelves. Her eyes eventually made their way over to the mural of the Palace of Westminster that took up the back wall, she focused on the clock face and watched as the seconds went by with her cheek resting on her fist as she leant against it while her elbow rested on the table.

 

“We know what Giselle meant to you…” Angela began after a few minutes.

 

“ _Tais-toi_ ” Amélie snapped when she turned to look at her, but her friend continued.

 

“But what Olivia says is true. Her heart wasn’t in it or she wouldn’t have done what she did. You know this to be true Amélie”

 

Amélie remained silent and looked at her three friends who were now looking at her with concern, she knew she was a cold at times but thinking back at her actions lately she realised that she had made mistakes.

 

“ _Merde”_ she said softly, and Angela reached over and took her hand, she looked up as Olivia rested her hand on top of them and as Hana did the same Amélie scoffed and rolled her eyes.

 

“You love us really _Chica_ ” Olivia said with a smirk knowing she was right.

 

Just over an hour after events in the café Amélie found herself stood in one of the campus stores slowly filling a basket with provisions to keep the dorm going over the next week or so.

 

The fact that she and Angela, who was conspicuously absent, were shopping for multiple people would have presented a problem, however the group had figured out a way around it, they had a small whiteboard they could add the items to and form a list, one of them would the transcribe the list for whoever it was making the store run.

 

For Amélie it was this list that was presenting an issue. Unfortunately, it had been Gabriel who had written down the list on this occasion and his handwriting was terrible, some of the item names looked as if they said something else, the issue with Gabriel was that his handwriting wasn’t that bad except when he rushed, and he often rushed on purpose and one could never tell whether the names of items that looked like something else was deliberate or coincidence due to the bad handwriting.

 

Amélie always assumed the former. Her main concern was the fact she had to scrutinise the list in almost every isle of the store as nobody but her and Olivia ever wrote this list down in a useful order. Olivia and Amélie wrote the list by section, such as fruits together or dairy together. Angela tended to write it down as the route she would take through the supermarket, confidently always ending wherever the sweets were. Lucio had the annoying tendency to write the list out in alphabetical order, but Gabriel copied it down as it was, which annoyed Amélie the most out of the group.

 

So, when Amélie found herself trying to decipher what the list actually said as opposed to the seemingly random swirls that Gabriel called handwriting she realised that she was stood by the freezers and that she needed to be at the other side of the store as the next item on her list was apples, although it looked more like Gabriel had written nipples.

 

She sighed and moved on. As she passed the counter for freshly baked goods where she found her absent dorm mate, Angela currently stood ogling the assorted items on display through the glass counter, so Amélie stopped momentarily and placed the basket on the floor to access her list again and crossed of an item which Angela was taking her sweet time to pick out.

 

Amélie knowing the blonde as well as she did, predicted that she would most likely pick out something covered heavily in chocolate. Which Amélie didn’t mind she was partial to chocolate, especially if accompanied by a nice wine. She smiled victoriously when she saw what Angela gestured to before continuing on her way.

 

“Let them eat cake” she said softly to herself as she thought about a wine that could accompany it and deciding that she may just settle for the wine and leave the cake for the others.

 

Once they had made their way back, Angela who was walking ahead of her pushed the door to their dorms common room open, the first thing she heard was Lucio’s music and the second this was Gabriel loudly greeting Angela upon seeing her. Once Amélie had followed her in Gabriel did the same to her.

 

“Amé!”

 

“ _Bonjour_ Gabriel” Amélie replied with a nod as she walked over the counter and put her bags next to those Angela had left, the blonde had disappeared into the bathroom. Gabriel wasted no time rooting through the bags and looked at her as she pulled out her chosen wine and placed it in the fridge to cool.

 

“Where are my tortillas?”

 

“With the bread Gabriel, that way they do not get squashed” Amélie replied as the man gathered all the items he would need to make his precious fajitas. Once all that was set aside he helped her store everything away in its correct place and once they were done he pulled out a frying pan with a flourish as Amélie grabbed him the olive oil.

 

“So Amé, when does your new roomie arrive” Gabriel asked as he began dicing onions and peppers.

 

“She already did, I assume she is still in our room”

 

“Well go get her” Gabriel said, “I want to meet the new girl, plus I need to know if she’s a veggie and of course if she likes my food!” She didn’t move and folded her arms to watch him as he hummed to himself while he worked, Amélie smirked, when it came to food Gabriel always became a different person.

 

Amélie gave her door a soft knock and upon hearing no objections she opened the door and quietly entered. Her roommate had unpacked most of her things and there was nothing out of place, which Amélie appreciated, Lena’s converse however rested at the bottom of her bed one on top of the other, clearly, she had just kicked them off.

 

The girl herself sat crossed-legged on her bed and was focused on the laptop in her lap, she hadn’t even noticed Amélie enter, so she took a moment to study the girl, whatever she was doing she was typing rather fast and was so focused she hadn’t noticed that her glasses had slid down her nose at some point and now rested precariously close to its tip, even her tongue was peeking out of the corner of her mouth as she concentrated.

 

Amélie blew her cover when she noticed what was sat behind the girl and burst out laughing which startled Lena and she looked directly at Amélie with shock plastered on her face, when Amélie saw her face she smirked, was that a blush?

 

After a few moments awkward silence Amélie decided to spare Lena the torment. “Who is your friend? Lena for a moment looked confused and then looked behind her and saw the offending item. Amélie smirked as Lena scrutinised the rather large stuffed gorilla wearing a space suit.

 

“He doesn’t really have a name, I tend to call him Winston though” Lena said softly with a further blush as she pushed her glasses back up her nose where they would be of use now she wasn’t focused on her laptop “My friend, Winston, bought me him when I was in hospital, so the big guy became Winston too”

 

Amélie frowned for a moment, the mention of hospital had peaked her interest, but she didn’t press the issue instead she focused on her task at hand.

 

“I came to invite you to fajita night” she said as she checked her nails.

 

“There’s a fajita night? Lena asked as she closed her laptop and Amélie watched as she rubbed the back of her neck “And you want to invite me?”

 

“It is not an official function held by the university. It is something we do in our dorm. The weekdays are pretty much self-service, however every weekend we take turns cooking, you missed out of some very nice Coq au vin last weekend as it was my turn to cook.” Amélie gave Lena a soft smile “This weekend it is Gabriel who is cooking, and he has chosen fajitas, and as you live here it would be rude not to invite you”

 

“I don’t know” Lena looked away from Amélie seemingly nervous when she looked back she was biting her lip softly until she spoke “I don’t know anyone”

 

“ _Absurdité_ , you know me.” Amélie replied instantly “I admittedly have a harsh exterior, but I mean no ill will” it was close enough to the truth, but she chose not to disclose the real reason for her recent behaviour.

 

“Okay” Lena said after a few moments silence “I’ll come”

 

“ _Parfait,_ now my second question. Are you a vegetarian?”

 

“No, why?”

 

“They don’t eat meat Lena, whoever is cooking would need to know, _non?”_ Amélie replied with a smirk and Lena nodded blushing slightly, Amélie left as Lena began putting her laptop into the drawer next to her bed.

 

When Amélie left her room, she saw something she never expected to see. Well she heard it first. When she glanced over at the seating in what was the lounge area of the dorm she saw Lucio trying and failing to get Olivia’s phone, glancing at Lucio’s computer she could see why, given the slide show of Olivia’s skull art it was clear that she had hacked him, which explained the music currently coming through his speakers.

 

Amélie withdrew her phone from her pocket and adeptly started the camera recording as she pointed it towards the kitchen. Angela had at some point returned and began helping Gabriel with the preparation of the food. However, that it seemed had changed.

 

Amélie continued suppressing her laughter as she saw Gabriel bobbing along to the music as he was making what looked to be salsa. But the main attraction was Angela, she was currently singing along to the song using a wooden spoon as a mic.

 

Once the chorus began Amélie had to bite her lip to stop the laugh escaping as not only was Angela getting really close to her ‘mic’ she was waving her free arm, Amélie half expected her to jump on to the counter to dance, she heard the door open softly behind her, keeping her phone focused on the event before her she turned to face Lena who looked confused, she placed a finger on her lips to silence Lena who upon seeing the scene before her nearly burst out with laughter, but to her credit she quickly clasped her hands over her mouth.

 

As Amélie turned back she noticed that Lucio and Olivia had stopped fighting and were also watching with suppressed laughter, as she focused on the kitchen again Gabriel had joined in for the singing and was currently sharing the ‘mic’ with Angela.

 

“… Holding out for a hero ‘til the end of the night. He’s gotta be strong, and he’s gotta be fast and he’s gotta be fresh from the fight. I NEED A HERO!” They sang in unison a while more before Gabriel saw Amélie and promptly stopped as Angela continued, he pointed over her shoulder and she slowly stopped singing and turned around with a frown which was promptly replaced with a bright grin as she waved at the camera, Gabriel groaned as Amélie stopped recording.

 

The others around her finally released their laughter and Amélie who had regained some of her composure found the laughter infectious and joined in, she and Lena ended up leaning against each other as they laughed and tried to get their breath back.

 

“Delete it” Gabriel demanded as Amélie shared the video with the group she was in. The look of horror on Gabriel’s face when Olivia’s phone beeped was priceless. “What have you done!”

 

“Well Reyes, perhaps next time you will write the shopping list clearly”

 

“This is so going on Facebook!” Olivia beamed as she began tapping away at her phone, Lucio also let out a celebratory cheer as his laptop screen cleared of Olivia’s skull art, after a few clicks of his mouse, the computer began to play music that wasn’t older than all of them.

 

Gabriel had fallen silent and returned to working on the food. Lena had somehow made it past Amélie without her noticing and was stood at the other side of the counter opposite the angry Spanish man watching him prepare the salsa in silence.

 

After they had eaten, and the leftovers appropriately stored the group of six sat in the lounge area, Amélie taking up the armchair with her legs drooped over one of its arms, Gabriel, Lucio and Olivia were on the sofa while Angela was sat on the floor cross-legged with Lena sat next to her, all were happily eating a slice of chocolate cake, Amélie had even shared her wine as they settled down to watch films streamed from Olivia’s laptop. After they had watched two of the Avengers films they decided to do something as a group, but coming up with something was proving difficult.

 

“What about Truth or Dare?” Olivia asked, there had been several suggestions all of which had been met with a few groans, this one was no different.

 

“That could be fun” Lena all but mumbled, Amélie only just managed to catch it. She found herself wondering why the girl was so quiet and couldn’t help but wondering if it had something to do with her earlier mention of being in hospital, she dismissed the thought as she reached over to take her wine glass from the table.

 

“ _Oui,_ let us play” she said as she sipped from her glass.

 

Lucio eventually agreed that it could be a fun experience, so Gabriel finished his drink and placed the bottle on the table before giving it a spin, it landed on Amélie. Gabriel grabbed the bottle now that it had served its purpose and took it to the recycling grabbing a fresh beer from the fridge and a few cans of soda for Lena and Lucio who weren’t drinking alcohol.

 

Once he was seated again Amélie looked at each person in the room before her gaze settled on Olivia.

 

“Dare” Olivia said instantly without the need for prompting. Amélie made a show of thinking but, she already had an idea.

 

“I dare you to send a text to Hana saying you kissed me” Olivia suddenly paled.

 

“Is it too late to switch?” She had a pleading look in her eyes which caused them all to laugh, they knew just like Olivia did that Hana wouldn’t believe it.

 

“Well it was your idea, _Estúpida_ ” Gabriel chided as Olivia pulled out her phone.

 

She placed her phone on the table after she sent the message and they didn’t have to wait long.

 

[22:23] [Me]: Sooo, I may have kissed Amé.

 

[22:24] [Hana <3]: Angie would have been believable. Are you playing Truth or Dare again!?!

 

[22:24] [Me]: Yes…

 

[22:24] [Hana <3]: OMG! Why I wasn’t invited! L

[22:25] [Hana <3]: No hugs for a week!

 

Upon seeing the messages, the group laughed, except Olivia who mumbled about missing hugs. But she quickly perked up when she realised it was her turn.

 

“Gabriel” she said smugly “Truth or Dare”

 

“As it’s you. Truth”

 

“ _Cobarde”_ she said calling him out for refusing a dare, but with a grin she asked, “Where is the weirdest place you kissed Jack?”

 

“One of Lucio’s gigs”

 

“Why was that weird?” Lucio asked.

 

“It was on stage, remember that time the music changed when you went to get a drink?”

 

“You said it was a technical glitch!” Lucio said as he realised what they were doing.

 

“It was, technically you didn’t change it, so a technical glitch.” Gabriel replied smugly before looking at Amélie “Truth or Dare?”

 

“Truth” she said taking a drink from her glass.

 

“Let me set the scene” Gabriel said as he took a swig from his bottle “You are an assassin and you have to kill us all. Who is the one person out of the five of us you could not kill and why?”

 

“Lena” she said almost instantly. Gabriel almost spat his beer and the others looked at her in shock, even Lena. So, she continued.

 

“You all do things that tend to annoy me. Angela, you are like the group mother at times, Olivia you never desist tampering with our technology, Lucio your music while nice to listen to is mostly way too loud, and Gabriel” she levelled her eyes on the man, he was clearly wondering what she was about to say, “You leave the toilet seat up.” They all laughed.

 

Amélie leaned forward and grabbed the wine bottle to top up her glass, she reached over and poured some more in both and Angela’s and Olivia’s glasses. She set her gaze on Angela once she was once again comfortably settled in her seat.

 

“Action ou Vérité?” Amélie said with a smile as she took a slow drink of her wine, she was aware of the effect such actions had on her friend and the gulp the Swiss took as she looked anywhere but at Amélie was proof of that.

 

“Dare” Angela said after a moment.

 

“Way to go Angie!” Gabriel cheered as he polished off his beer.

 

“I dare you to kiss me” Amélie said it softly and slowly not blinking as she looked straight at Angela. Gabriel and Lucio began wolf whistling and promptly high fived each other when they realised they had the same thought. Angela sighed and stood.

 

“Really _Chérie,_ a sigh” Amélie touched her heart in mock horror and the blonde rolled her eyes. Before pulling Amélie to her feet and placing her hands on her cheeks.

 

They shared a long slow kiss. Everyone in the room, except Lena, knew that they had had a short relationship in the past, nothing came of it, but they remained friends and were now virtually inseparable despite their differences.

 

Amélie smiled and gave Angela a quick peck on the nose before she could move away, the blonde blushed as she went back to sit down. Now if Amélie had chosen that dare to see what kind of reaction Lena would give she would not say, but looking at the small girl now she was not disappointed by it.

 

“Can I just say” Olivia chimed in “Best one so far!”

 

“My turn I believe” Angela said and looked at Lena “Truth or Dare?”

 

“Mm-Truth” Lena said looking around her, she seemed uncomfortable with the attention and Amélie watched as she nervously adjusted her collar.

 

“If you could do one thing that you cannot do now what would it be?” Lena’s brow furrowed as she thought about it, she looked up after a few moments.

 

“Time Travel” she replied sadly. Gabriel was the first to react.

 

“You don’t have to say anymore if it makes you uncomfortable” Gabriel replied in a similar tone. Lena looked up and she smiled softly when everyone nodded showing that Gabriel was speaking for them all. Amélie gave her a soft smile when Lena looked her way and the girl smiled back.

 

“Your turn _Chérie”_ Amélie spoke softly as she sipped her wine.

 

“Lucio?” Lena said but it sounded more like a question.

 

“Dare” he replied.

 

“I dare you to” she bit her lip as she thought about it “Prank call a pizza place”

 

Lucio pulled out his phone and Olivia snatched it as he was about to dial “Noob” she said as she did something with it and passed it back.

 

“Your girlfriend is rubbing off on you” Angela said happily as placed her empty wine glass on the table.

 

“En más de un sentido” Olivia replied, Amélie and Gabriel burst out laughing, Lucio not far behind once the words had sunk in, Angela rolled her eyes and Lena just looked lost so Amélie leaned over and whispered a translation.

 

“In more ways than one”

 

Lena blushed becoming almost the same colour as the converse on feet.

 

Olivia gave Lucio his phone back mumbling something about hiding the caller ID, they all waited as he checked the internet for local pizza places, once he had one he dialled and put the phone on speaker, holding it near his mouth.

 

“Eli’s Pizzeria”

 

“Yeah do you do pizza?” Lucio began.

 

“Yes” the reply sounded annoyed already.

 

“Stuffed Crust?”

 

“Topping?”

 

“You do a stuffed crust topping; how does that work?

 

“No” there was a pause and an audible deep breath “Which toppings on your pizza?”

 

“Oh!” Lucio exclaimed sounding surprised “How about Tuna, ham, garlic, extra cheese, bacon, sweet corn, pineapple, tomatoes, mushroom, olives, sardines, onions, peppers, chillies and pulled pork”

No reply came, Lucio looked at the phone and frowned. The Pizzeria had hung up on him, everyone laughed.

 

“Well that backfired” Lucio mumbled. “Too may toppings?” He asked with a smirk.

 

“Well I’m bored of this game” Gabriel said and looked at Lena “So new girl, do you have any party tricks?”

 

“Party Tricks?” Lena asked with a frown and adjusted her glasses.

 

“Sure, everyone can do something” Gabriel replied, “Angela sings, Lucio’s got his DJ skills, Olivia makes cocktails, I do the cooking and Amé can dance”

 

“I can do impressions” Lena said rubbing the back of her neck.

 

“Impressions?” Amélie and Gabriel said in unison, the former continued “You have to show us”

 

“Maybe later” Lena said as she stood and stretched “I think I’m going to head to bed” the group watched her walk towards the door and Amélie called out after her.

 

“Just one. Please _Chérie”_

 

Lena looked at Amélie and gave a slight smile before looking at the rest of the group as they watched her, she locked eyes with Gabriel and Angela with a smirk and Amélie watched with interest as the Brit kept her eyes on the pair and cleared her throat.

 

In a near perfection she spoke with Angela’s voice “Hero’s never die!” Amélie was the first to burst out laughing, followed by Olivia and Lucio. Gabriel and Angela eventually started laughing along, Amélie eyes never left Lena as she entered their room.

 

A few hours later Amélie was the next to turn in, she quietly returned to her room and upon entering she noticed that Lena was already asleep so Amélie quietly changed and crawled under the covers of her bed and rested her head on her pillow facing Lena, she watched her sleep for a few minutes before deciding that having this girl as her roommate might not be so bad after all as she closed her eyes.

 

It may also have helped that the first sight she saw when she woke the following morning was Lena making her bed before giving Winston a massive hug before she set the stuffed gorilla back in the top corner of her bed near her pillow.

 

Of course, when Lena looked around to grab her glasses from her side table Amélie had already closed her eyes again. Lena didn’t need to know the French girl had seen. Amélie sat up when she heard the door close and she smiled.

 

Not yet anyway.

 

 


	2. Past Returns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amélie meets an old friend and learns the truth of Lena's accident.

“Die! Die! Die!”

“OMG! You are such a Noob!” Hana snapped “Lure the Zombies Gabe, take them somewhere else while your health regens, but no, you had to kill them all! We needed to save one, so we could build the Tesla Gun”

“So! We can do it next round” Gabriel replied.

Amélie was watching with a massive smirk as Hana continued to rage at Gabriel about how to play Call of Duty Zombies, she was of course making Olivia play as punishment for not inviting her to last night’s game of Truth or Dare, her various requests to hack them better weapons had been declined.

Angela could be heard singing softly to herself as she helped prepare breakfast, when Amélie glanced over to the kitchen she saw Lena once again with her glasses part way down her nose as she was focused on preparing omelettes, she looked adorable.

“Going to hit the mystery box” Gabriel suddenly said making Amélie look back.

Several curses in Korean were directed a Gabriel followed by “We need the points to open doors, so we can work on the next Easter egg step!”

Amélie looked at Hana’s laptop which was currently displaying her stream and laughed at the comments currently directed at Gabriel or more so on this occasion, @R34P3R.

“Shall I just hack it to unlock the doors?” Olivia asked once again.

“NO!” Hana shouted, causing a stir in the comments section directed at Olivia, S0M8R4. These once again made Amélie laugh as several of the comments were telling them to ‘ _just get married already’._

Lucio’s door opened, and music started blaring from the portable speaker he held in his hand as he did something on his phone, which it was obviously connected to.

“Lucio!” Hana greeted happily “New mix?” she added as her character seemed to behead a zombie with a shovel which caused Amélie to raise her brow as she sipped her coffee.

“Yup” he replied before continuing with a smirk “Been watching your stream, I call this one Zombie Rage” the Korean frowned at the DJ.

“Game Face On!” Hana said and focused on the screen as a myriad of Nazi Zombies exploded into meaty chunks.

“Han...” Olivia began, the Korean glared, and Olivia quickly amended what she was saying “D. Va, should I Pack-A-Punch the MP-40?”

“Go, I’ll cover you!”

“Hell Yeah!” Gabriel suddenly blurted out “Combat Shotgun!”

“GABE! YOU HIT THE BOX!” Hana screeched.

“So, I still have five hundred points” Gabriel replied as his character shot down Zombies with impressive precision considering he was using a shotgun.

“Five hundred! you hit the box three times? You needed fifteen hundred for the door” Hana sighed “That’s what you were keeping the points for after you had got your perks”

“Gabriel” Amélie said “The comments section is calling you a ‘Shotgun Noob’” before he could reply Hana cut him off.

“Damn it Gabe!” Hana suddenly said when he got downed “Please tell me you have self-revive”

“Nope”

“Great!” Hana replied sarcastically with all the mock enthusiasm she could muster as her character and Olivia’s began shooting their way through Zombies to try and save Gabriel’s.

Amélie stood, stretched and moved over to the kitchen where she watched as Angela began slicing sausages while Lena buttered the bread. When that small task was done Lena quickly grabbed some sausages and bacon, placing them on top of a slice of bread and then carefully balanced one of the small omelettes she had made on a spatula and placed it, so it is sitting it on top of the meat, she added a few drops of Ketchup and placed another slice of bread on top.

“Okay everyone” Lena called “Foods nearly up, Gabriel I started with yours”

“Amé, Have mine!” Gabriel called as more Zombie deaths could be heard “I’ll get the next one”

“Pause it!” Angela protested “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!”

Amélie took the plate from Lena with a smile anyway and sat down at the table nearby and began eating her sandwich, the omelette adding a rather nice flavour, it was different. She watched as Lena built up several more sandwiches as the rest of group came over.

Lena served herself last and by that time Amélie had finished her food and was happily drinking her coffee while listening to the conversations around her, mostly it was compliments on Lena’s idea to use mini omelettes instead of fried eggs, which made her blush.

When Amélie checked the time on her phone she realised she only had twenty minutes left before she was meeting her friend, so she began getting ready as Hana, Olivia and Gabriel resumed their gaming stream, from the way things were going as Amélie walked out of the door she imagined Gabriel would want to disappear in a cloud of smoke if things got worse considering he was the one that kept messing up.

As she made her way towards Brewed Awakening to meet her friend for coffee, she wondered what to talk about as it had been a while since they last spoke.  In the previous term they used to meet every week and had decided recently since lectures and classes restarted tomorrow they could begin meeting up again.

She arrived behind schedule and if there was one thing Amélie hated it was being late, but she hated apologising more so when she took a seat across from her best friend she didn’t apologise and simply gave a nod, which caused her friend to laugh.

“Amé” Gérard said with a smile “It is good to see you again”

“ _Oui_ ” Amélie replied with a smile “It has been too long, how was Annecy?”

“It was nice to be with my family again” Gérard replied, “I even ran into your parents, your father was as irritating as usual wondering why we ever broke up and whether or not you were going to” he cleared his throat and spoke in a deeper voice “Put this lunacy behind you”

Amélie laughed at the terrible impression of her father and rolled her eyes. “Never, I have no intension of becoming a lawyer”

“That’s what I told him, you should have seen his face”

They continued talking about old times and what had happened to both them recently during their time apart, Gérard of course had been sympathetic when she told him of Giselle and their break-up. Amélie found herself wishing it was more along the terms of her and Gérard, during their time together no matter how brief it may have been they had realised truths about themselves and had become closer for it.

Gérard was currently happily engaged to his partner Stephen and given the stories he shared of the man Amélie couldn’t wait to meet him. Over the course of their conversation Amélie realised now that she had spent two years wrapped around Giselle’s little finger. What Gérard had with Stephen was something she wanted to experience, and she was ever so thankful that she and Giselle hadn’t taken their relationship to the next level.

Eventually as time passed they moved onto happier subjects with Gérard insisting that he be brought up to speed on the exploits of her friends. So Amélie had happily regaled him with stories about her friends eventually ending on what happened last night, Gérard been unable to keep a straight face when she mentioned Gabriel singing with Angela, he even demanded to see the video so Amélie had sent it to him to watch later, he began to laugh again as she went into detail about the game of truth or dare and Lena’s impression of Angela. He had then asked her specifically about Lena, so Amélie began telling him about her, well what she knew anyway, which on reflection wasn’t that much, she had more questions than answers.

Eventually Amélie looked over at Gérard and saw a smirk on his face, she raised a brow in confusion before realising that she had been silent for some time and had been lost in her thoughts, although she couldn’t quite remember what those thoughts were.

“So, she must be something” Gérard said after a moment and summoned another raised brow from Amélie, he chuckled and stood and grabbed his coat from the back of his chair “Come let us walk and you can tell me more”.

Amélie grabbed her coat, left money on the table to pay her bill for her second order along with a tip and followed him as he left the cafe, eventually they were walking through the park just outside Kings Row down the path that lead towards the dorms.

“You are smitten” Gérard replied with a laugh as Amélie told him about more about Lena, such as the habits she had noticed over the past day, which were numerous.

It was as though the man could see into her very being or more specifically the thoughts that were rushing around Amélie’s head the moment the words left her lips: The way Lena let her glasses sit at different positions on her nose depending on what she was doing, how she inadvertently rubbed the back of her neck or looked away with a blush when she was nervous, her laugh and those freckles, _mon dieu_ those freckles.

Amélie sighed and rubbed her face with both hands as she stopped where she was, she heard Gérard take a few more steps ahead of her before stopping himself and when she lowered her hands he was looking at her with a goofy smile that to Amélie was saying ‘You know I’m right Amé’.

“ _Merde_ ” she muttered knowing he was correct and right before her eyes that goofy smile she was so familiar with transformed into a smug grin, made more effective by that stupid moustache he refused to be remove.

“Do not give me that look” Amélie warned “It is hardly my fault that she is so infuriatingly adorable!” She added her French accent slipping through even more as she became flustered, Gérard, curse the man just laughed.

After bidding farewell to the annoyance that was her best friend, she returned to the dorms and was welcomed to the sight of a freshly showered Gabriel walking around in nothing, but loose-fitting track pants the moment she opened the door.

“ _Bon sang, Gabriel a mis une putain de chemise_ ” She snapped upon entered the common area.

“ _Dios_ , what’s got you all riled up?” Gabriel replied as he moved over to the sofa and grabbed his shirt before pulling it over his head.

“Nothing” she replied taking a small amount of satisfaction from the fact that Gabriel’s shirt was inside out.

“Well it had to be something” Gabriel muttered as he walked towards the fridge.

Amélie noticed that Hana was still sat on the floor playing on her Xbox with Lucio and Olivia although it now appeared to be some form of racing game, but she hardly paid any attention to them and made straight for her room.

Once she was inside she let the door close walked forward and fell face first into her bed groaning into the pillow, _‘What a day!’_ she thought to herself and it wasn’t even lunchtime. She groaned again as the image of Gérard’s smirk and that stupid moustache flashed in her mind’s eye, it was then that she heard a voice and remembered a fact that had completely slipped her mind which was an achievement she had to admit considering the fact she forgot was the fact that was causing her current woes. She had a roommate.

“Someone’s having a bad day” Lena had said softly with concern in her voice and continued to say, “Want to talk about it?”

Amélie looked over to her and declined before pushing her face back into her pillow and mumbling “Sometimes I hate my life” but regretted it immediately.

“Never say that!” Lena said angrily and Amélie looked at her, the girl did not however look angry, she looked completely heartbroken. Amélie’s stomach dropped when she saw tears shining in the girl’s eyes and so she did something she rarely did without a moment’s hesitation.

“I’m sorry, _Chérie._ ”

“Don’t ever say that” Lena said as a tear ran down her cheek “Life is precious and there is always someone worse off than you” the girl looked away from her and out of the window. Amélie followed her gaze and looked out over the ocean, but it was not the ocean she saw, she instead focused on Lena’s reflection, she knew that Lena had probably meant herself, but the girl was too polite to say it directly.

She was biting her lip as she tried to stop crying, Amélie turned from the window and looked at her as Lena wiped her tears away with the back of her hand.

“You do not know what you have until it is gone” Lena said softly looking at her hands, Amélie followed her gaze and saw them shaking, silence lingered in the air as she watched the girl for a few more moments as she seemed determined to look anywhere and everywhere all at once, well everywhere but at Amélie.

“S-sorry” Lena said but Amélie leaned forward reaching over to place a finger on her lips.

“Do not apologise, I should have chosen my words more carefully”

“I-I don’t even k-know what made you s-sad” Lena replied her stutter proving intermittent, Amélie assumed it was from her nerves having just broken down in front of her, a practical stranger, the fact she found it cute was irrelevant so Amélie banished the thought from her mind.

“I am not sad” Amélie replied tilting her head slightly and Lena looked at her “I was annoyed, I had met my friend for coffee and he, as always, endeavoured to push me to the edge of my sanity” she gave a soft smile to the girl “It seems on this occasion he was somewhat successful, _non?_ ”

Lena nodded and didn’t reply as she looked away again, she appeared to have developed an interest in the lamp that sat on Amélie’s bedside table.

“I have an idea” Amélie said “You and I should head to the café, our last encounter there was not a nice experience and I feel I should make up for it” Lena looked at her now “Plus Angela starts her shift in a few minutes, she can make excellent fruit teas”

“Fruit tea sounds nice” Lena replied giving a soft but sad smile as if she were reliving a memory “Just not Lemon”

“No Lemon, _Chérie_. They have a rather large selection, I am sure we will find something”

Amélie stood and held out her hand to Lena who looked at it but did nothing, when Amélie waggled her fingers Lena took her hand.

They arrived at Brewed Awakening around twenty minutes later, Amélie had helped Lena compose herself before leaving their room knowing if Gabriel had seen Lena with tears in her eyes as they left the dorm, she wouldn’t live it down, nor would Amélie herself. Gabriel loved to tease people and she wouldn’t let him do that to Lena when she was still so vulnerable around them.

She guided Lena to a table for two near the windows and with a good view of the counter and barista stations, Lena hadn’t asked why they were sat here in the nearly empty café, but Amélie may have had multiple motives for visiting the café again.

“You weren’t joking” Lena said softly when she looked at the tea selection with wide eyes.

“They have a very nice Blackcurrant and Blueberry. However, I am partial to Elderflower myself.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes as Lena looked over the list and frowned every so often as she thought about what she wanted, Amélie looked around the café once or twice, she only saw Angela as she prepped to begin her shift. So, she focused her attention on the pasty board when she saw Angela’s flowing handwriting, she couldn’t help but wonder what Lena would choose.

“Surprise me?” Lena said attracting Amélie’s attention “They all sound nice” the girl added with a shy smile as she pushed her glasses back up her nose. “I can’t decide”

Amélie nodded and stood, as she made her way to the counter she glanced at the staff and sure enough she was lucky today, Angela was the one making drinks, which meant she knew who was serving tables.

“Good Morning, what is your _Brewed Awakening_?” Angela said as she did something on the computer in front of her, Amélie assumed she was logging in. When Angela looked up the way her face changed as she realised who she was talking to was priceless, Amélie smirked which caused Angela to blush and become somewhat flustered.

“Oh Amélie!” Angela said as she regained her composure “The usual?”

“Oh?” Amélie smirked “You remember my usual? And I do not mean the black coffee I have in a morning”

“I remember all my friend’s usual’s” Angela said confidently.

“Prove. It.” Amélie challenged.

Angela took a breath “A large double shot, skinny Latte Macchiato, two pumps caramel to one pump vanilla, topped with a dusting of cinnamon”

“Trés bien” Amélie smiled “However I will not be having that” Angela glared which caused the French girl to chuckle “I will have two Apple and Cinnamon fruit teas, made by your beautiful self, _Chérie_ ”

“Two?”

Amélie gestured behind her and glanced back herself as Lena was doing something in her notepad.

“You two friends now?” Angela asked with a hardly suppressed grin.

“ _Oui”_ Angela’s grin burst free the moment the word left Amélie’s lips, and Amélie found it infectious.

“You could help me actually” Amélie said making sure she looked and sounded solemn “Lena looked a little pale this morning, she seems to have recovered, but…” she trailed off knowing full well that the medical student would pick up on what she was hinting and sure enough.

“You wanted me to see if I notice anything while you are here?” Angela gave a soft smile as she spoke and finished with a nod which Amélie mirrored.

A few moments later Angela slyly looked around making sure no one was looking and quickly swiped her staff ID card, Amélie smirked as the price on the display dropped by ten percent. After she had paid she returned to her table as Angela set about making drinks.

As Amélie sat down she watched Lena as the girl carefully moved her pencil, it flowed smoothly across the page before her as she shaded several parts of whatever she was drawing, it took Amélie a few moments to realise that it was a pair of eyes.

“You are very good” Amélie said and Lena looked up at her and from the surprised look on her face she knew Lena had clearly not having heard her sit back down.

“Maybe” Lena said as she put her pencil down “It’s not a real sketch, just a doodle”

“If this is a doodle” Amélie said as she picked up the notepad and studied the drawing “I must see your actual drawings”

“I… I d-don’t tend to show other people” Lena replied, “I get w-worried what they might think”

“I will be honest, looking at this” she gestured to the notepad “I think you have talent, _non?”_

“I guess” Lena replied as she reached up to rub the back of her neck.

“Then you will show me your drawings at some point?” Amélie asked with a smile which got a nod off Lena, as she was about to reply someone neared their table and placed a tray upon it.

“You again?” said the newcomer with a chuckle “Twice on a Sunday is unlike you”

“Hello Jesse, it’s a pleasure to see you again” Amélie looked at him as she spoke and gave him a smile.

“You’re only polite to me when you want something” Jesse chuckled as he placed their drinks on the table before picking up the tray and tucking it under his arm.

“I do” Amélie didn’t bother denying it “You my friend are going to help us with Operation Cupid”

“Operation Cupid?” Lena asked as she sniffed her drink, she gave the glass mug a timid smile and took a sip, “This is nice!” she exclaimed and blushed remembering she had company Amélie and Jesse chuckled.

“It is a mission of love Lena, two of our friends are at an impasse and too oblivious to realise that they both feel the same way about one another, so I am taking matters into my own hands”

“What do I need to do?” Jesse spoke softly looking Amélie right in the eye.

“You will text your dorm mate, you know which one, telling them you are going to order them a drink and that they should come in to the café, do you follow?” Jesse nodded “Then you will tell them you are needed in the back and disappear, at which point you will suggest they join us at our table and phase two can begin”

“What’s in it for me?”

“Tickets to Blizzard World” Amélie replied as she began checking her nails and added “For two of course”

“Deal!” Jesse said instantly.

Jesse already had his phone in his hand as he walked away so Amélie turned to Lena.

“I take it you like the tea?” Amélie smiled at her as she took a drink of her own.

“Yeah, it’s different” Lena said and then her eyes went wide “G-good different not bad different”

“I had guessed” Amélie laughed as her phone vibrated, she pulled it out and noticed she had a message from Jesse. “It appears we have five minutes”

“Five minutes?” Lena raised an eyebrow “What are we doing?”

“It is simple” Amélie smiled, “We are going to set the ball rolling if you will, and you _Chérie,_ are vital to my plan”

“Me?”

“Yes” Amélie chuckled “You are the one I am talking to, are you not?”

“Why?

“You have tiny hands”

Lena gasped and looked at her hands, “I do not!” She protested, it seems she had successfully distracted the Brit.

Amélie however didn’t give away to Lena that that was her intention she simply chuckled and delicately took hold of Lena’s left wrist and moved her grip to Lena’s hand, moved her fingers apart so that they were splayed before tilting her hand to the side and pressed her own against it. With the base of their palms meeting and their fingers pressed together, the evidence supported Amélie’s suggestion as sure enough Lena’s hands were just over half the size of Amélie’s own.

“Is that a blush, _Chérie”_

Lena gave a soft smile and her eyes darted to her drink, she took her hand back and wrapped both of her hands around her mug before raising it to her lips.

“Why are my hands important?”

“Oh, they aren’t” Amélie smirked “I was teasing you”

“B-but but…” Lena began but someone approached the table and she fell silent.

“Hello Amélie “came a voice.

“Fareeha!” Amélie said happily as she gestured for the newcomer to take a seat.

“Hope you don’t mind if I join you” Fareeha began as Amélie looked behind her and saw Jesse twirl his phone in his fingers and slide it in his pocket like it was an old revolver before he slipped into the back through a staff only door.

“Not at all” Amélie said “This is Lena by the way, she is my new roommate”

Lena chose to give a slight wave rather than speak.

“She’s shy” Amélie said with a smirk “We were just discussing how small her hands are”

“They aren’t that small!” Lena said folding her arms and putting her face in the most adorable pout, at least it was in Amélie’s opinion.

“They do look rather small” Fareeha added placing her own hand flat on the table, she wiggled her fingers, so they tapped against the table, she smiled at Lena who groaned and placed her own hand on top, and sure enough her hand was comically small in comparison.

“Happy?” Lena said in mock anger, trying to suppress a grin as she looked at Amélie, she really needed to smile more.

“Exceedingly so” Amélie said and looked behind Fareeha towards the counter, and sure enough Angela was focused on Lena, Amélie fought to stop her grin from widening “It seems you have an admirer”

Lena frowned and followed her gaze and saw Angela who gave her a wave, Lena returned it with a smile and Amélie saw Fareeha stiffen when the girl turned and saw Angela smiling broadly at the young Brit.

“She seems really happy” Lena said.

“Probably buzzed on coffee” Fareeha said softly and almost convinced Amélie she was sincere in that statement, almost.

“Maybe” Amélie said and finished her tea. They spent the next few minutes talking about what to order next and eventually Lena excused herself to go to the restroom.

“Are you going to do something?”

“What?” Fareeha asked, obviously caught off guard. _Perfect_.

“Angela” Amélie said keeping her voice low “I saw the way you reacted when you saw the way she looked at Lena”

“I don’t know what you mean”

“We both know that’s not true Amari, we’ve all seen the way you look at her when you think no one is looking”

“What can I do?” Fareeha asked clenching her fists “She clearly has an interest in Lena, after what? A day? How can I compete with that?” She sighed “It’s not like I can go up to the counter and declare my feelings”

“Why not?” Amélie asked “She’s means a lot to me but appears to mean much more to you, if I were you, nothing would stop me”

“I can’t”

“Look me in the eyes and say ‘I will not regret letting Angela slip away later in life’”

Fareeha looked at her “I will n…” she trailed off “I can’t”

“Then go” Amélie said with a smile and placing her hand on the taller women’s shoulder “You can do this, or your name is not Fareeha Amari”

Fareeha took a deep breath and stood as Lena sat back down at the table, Fareeha looked at the Brit and seemed to second guess what she was about to do but she straightened up and turned towards the counter.

Amélie watched as she got closer, there was no queue and very few customers in the café itself. Fareeha stood across from Angela as the medical student spoke to her, no doubt as oblivious as always.

She noticed that Lena had begun drawing again, she tapped the table and pointed at the counter as Fareeha stood motionless fists clenched at her sides and a look of concern spread across Angela’s face as she moved around the counter to stand next to her friend, no doubt asking if she was okay.

“Do it Amari” Amélie said softly and laughed when Fareeha sighed and seemingly took a deep breath before seizing Angela’s shoulders in her grasp and pulling the blonde into a deep kiss, it lasted longer than it should have as Angela reciprocated her own hands finding Fareeha cheeks, even her leg lifted off the ground and bent at the knee.

Jesse appeared out of nowhere and let out a massive whistle and both Angela and Fareeha went as red as the cafes cups.

Amélie grabbed her coat and stood, Lena followed her lead, pulling on her oversized aviation jacket.

Amélie lead Lena towards the door and held it open for her as she looked back towards the counter, Angela met her eye and realisation dawned on her face and Amélie smirked and gave her a wave and a nod, the blonde shook her head and with a grin mouthed ‘Thank You’ just before she turned to follow her little British friend.

With both her tasks complete she was in a cheery mood for the first time in a while and moved to catch up with Lena who was in the park a few metres ahead of her, however that was not all that waited ahead of her, Amélie’s mood suddenly dropped.

She doubled her speed and caught up with Lena and tried to take her down another path before they were spotted however it was too late.

“Hello Amé” Giselle said as she approached flanked by the little gang of misfits she called friends.

“Hello _Giselle”_ Amélie replied saying the girls name with as much disdain as she could muster.

“Is that anyway to greet me” Giselle replied as her green-eyed gaze fell on Lena “I see the rumours were true, you have yourself a little pet” she looked at Amélie now and gave her a grin “Does she follow behind you everywhere, that’s usually the place you keep a beaten dog”

Lena’s shoulders sunk as Giselle spoke and her gaze found the floor. “Do not talk about her like that!” Amélie snapped at her ex-girlfriend.

“I will say what I wish” Giselle replied her grin getting wider “You must be having a hard time getting over me, I didn’t think you were one for damaged goods”

The words had some effect on Lena, Amélie saw her look up for just a moment and caught the tears in her eyes, Amélie knew at that moment Giselle the self-proclaimed gossip queen of campus knew something she didn’t, she clenched her fists and glared.

“I am warning you Giselle”

“Hear that Willow?” Giselle laughed “This is why she didn’t last with me, all bark and no bite” Amélie knew the girl Giselle addressed, she couldn’t forget the women you caught with your girlfriend.

“I wonder how long it will take before she gives up, she’s practically shaking” Willow said as she stepped up next to Giselle and looked at Lena.

“Probably not long, wait is she crying” Giselle leaned to look and burst into laughter.

Amélie saw red.

Her fist connected with Giselle’s nose and the girls head shot back, Willow attempted to throw a punch but Amélie ducked under it and brought her fist into the girl’s side and tripped her, before once again focusing on Giselle, her other ‘friends’ backed away leaving her to her fate. Amélie swung a punch again and it connected with Giselle’s stomach and she fell to the floor, Amélie kicked her for good measure.

Just as she turned back to Lena a voice called out from behind her.

“Guillard!” Amélie knew who it was in an instant, Moira O’Deorain head of the medical and advanced science departments.

“Mrs O’Deorain” she said simply.

“I hope you have an explanation” Moira said “I do so hate to administer punishment without good reason”

“Protecting a friend” Amélie replied “Not that I expect you to understand” Moira made a tutting noise as she stopped in front of Amélie.

“With such comments you only make this worse for yourself.” Amélie saw Willow stand and begin to help Giselle to her feet.

“Miss Talon” Moira said turning to Giselle “This is your third infraction in two days and term time hasn’t even started”

“Amélie started it”

“That I refuse to believe” Moira sighed “Miss Baker” she said looking at Willow “You will accompany us to visit the Dean” Moira turned to Lena who was now stood directly behind Amélie, but as she was about to speak a familiar voice came from ahead.

“What the hell is going on” Olivia said as she walked towards them from Kings Row, upon seeing Moira she stopped in her tracks.

“Ah Miss Colomar” Moira said looking at her “Please take Miss Oxton back to your dorm, she appears to have had quite the afternoon, someone in her condition should be avoiding undue stress.” Olivia looked at Lena with concern and Moira clapped her hands “Now Miss Coloma”

“Come on Lena” Olivia said holding out her hand “Let’s get you back” Lena moved towards her didn’t take her hand and continued straight past, Olivia looked at Amélie for a moment and then moved to catch up.

Giselle started laughing and Amélie spun to hit her again, but Moira caught her arm.

“You are all coming with me now” Moira said and gestured for them to walk.

“This is bullshit!” Giselle snapped “What are you going to do take us to the Dean, so she can slap us on the wrist?”

“Oh, do shut up” Amélie snapped.

“It is not my preference to see to matters personally, but I will see them done” Moira said “By taking you to the Dean, I do just that”

Amélie followed in silence to the Deans office as the other two girls bickered amount themselves trying and failing to persuade Moira to let them go. Once they were outside the Deans office, Moira went inside after practically demanding they all be seated.

“This is your fault!” Giselle snapped causing Amélie to look and sure enough the girl was looking at her with a glare. “You bloody douche!”

Amélie laughed “You need to find better insults, I am not in any way a shower”

“Oh yeah it a French word isn’t it. You prissy bitch” Giselle snapped in reply

“I don’t know what I ever saw in you” Amélie replied in a similar tone as the door opened, Moira left the room and walked straight past them without another word with the Dean following her out of the office after a few moments and stopping near the trio.

A couple of minutes later Amélie found herself sat in front of the desk of one Ana Amari, Dean of Gibraltar University.

“I was disappointed to hear you were involved in this Amélie.” Ana began and Amélie sunk into her chair, the thing she hated about the Dean was the fact she rarely raised her voice and had a calm and collected demeanour, you could never gauge what she was thinking “However it was no mistake that Lena Oxton was put in the same dorm as you and your friends, I know that you will all look after her, I was hoping you would be just the people who could help her, I hope I was not mistaken in this judgement.” Ana raised her brow in question.

Amélie nodded and shifted uncomfortably under her gaze.

“Relax, I am not going to punish you this time, I do however have to make a note on your record and warn you against doing it again, but you have done precisely what I expected you to do, I had however expected you maintain your composure and not resort to physical violence.” Ana closed the file on her desk after she had finished writing.

“Now I need you to leave this room and go straight to your dorm. We have to keep up appearances” Ana continued, Amélie stood and made for the door “But Amélie” she turned “Should this happen again I will have no choice but to inform your parents and issue a punishment. Now go”

As Amélie walked back to her dorms she couldn’t help but wonder what everyone had meant regarding Lena. Giselle obviously knew something she didn’t and given how word travelled around campus it would reach her eventually, but Giselle was very good at keeping hold of information for extended periods. It didn’t surprise her that Moira knew something given she was a member of the faculty but what confused her the most was the fact that Ana Amari said that she needed looking after. That was what she wanted to figure out.

As she entered the dorm, it was unusually quiet. Olivia being the only occupant and seemingly reading something on her tablet, whatever it was had the girl struggling to maintain her composure.

“Olivia?” Amélie asked. The hacker gestured for her to come join her on the sofa, so Amélie did.

“Lena wouldn’t say anything about what happened” Olivia said sadly “So I looked on the internet and found something”

“Something bad?”

“That’s an understatement” Olivia replied with a sigh. “I thought I should at least show you, but we should keep this between us until she’s ready”

Amélie at first was confused, but when she looked at the tablet realization hit her like a freight train and she felt her stomach turn. On the screen before her was an old news article, and the contents were not pleasant, as she read her heart broke, she knew now knew why Giselle referred to her Lena as damaged goods.


	3. Accidental Truth.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Truth of Lenas accident.

_ BIRTHDAY PARTY TURNED BIRTHDAY TRAGEDY. _

_An intoxicated driver was arrested last night for driving over the speed limit and causing the deaths of three people._

_It was a long night for many in central London as emergency services were called to the scene of a road traffic collision. Sean Archer, 19, who was arrested at the scene having survived the crash sustaining only minor and mostly superficial injuries, collided with the Oxton family vehicle taking the lives of the driver and two of the passengers._

_Traffic cameras just under a mile from the scene reportedly caught Mr Archer travelling in excess of 50-60 miles per hour exceeding the speed limit by at least double. Due to his inability to control the vehicle at these speeds he veered into oncoming traffic where he struck the Oxton Family vehicle as they returned from celebrating their daughter’s birthday._

_The exact circumstances of the incident are unknown at this time. Investigators claim that the vehicle driven by Mr Archer attempted to avoid the collision however the rear of Mr Archers vehicle still struck that of the victims which caused them to veer off the road and into a nearby construction site._

_Upon arrival at the scene emergency services began the immediate extraction of the family, unfortunately the driver, Liam Oxton, 38, and his wife, Helen, 39, who was the front seat passenger were pronounced dead at the scene._

_The rear seat passengers Lena Oxton, 17, and her girlfriend Emily Hawkins, 18, were safely removed from the wreckage of the vehicle and rushed to hospital to receive treatment for serious injuries._

_In the early hours of Sunday morning it was reported that Miss Hawkins succumbed to her injuries, leaving Miss Oxton as the only survivor. Miss Oxton has yet to awaken following surgery, from which she currently remains under observation, hospital staff have informed us she is stable for the time being having suffered many complications, however they are confident that danger has passed, and she should be in for a steady recov…_

 

 

Amélie couldn’t read anymore, she shoved Olivia’s tablet back at her and leaned back into the sofa, she felt tears running down her cheeks and Olivia’s hand on her shoulder.

After a few moments she looked at her friend and Olivia held out her arms and Amélie collapsed into them.

“We will keep her safe” Olivia said through tears of her own, “You know we will, she’s one of us now”

Amélie simply nodded.


	4. That Friday Feeling.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lessons come to a close. Lena has a secret skill, and everyone gets drunk. Whats the worst that could happen?

It was nearing the end of the first week of term and Amélie among others had clearly lost the will to live at the present moment, it was always her opinion, which she had no doubt others shared, that the first week back after a break was the worst, it just seemed longer than it physically was.

 

She was currently sitting in her last period of the day and she was to say the least, not enjoying it. With the near constant glares and general unpleasant-looks sent her way from Giselle, or as Amélie and Angela had taken to calling her, the Social Terrorist, plus the very simple fact that she just found the lecture exceptionally boring she was struggling to maintain her concentration.

 

She understood the importance of the topic, she knew that to be a successful writer she would have to understand and be able to display emotion in her works, but a three-hour lecture was pushing it and she knew there would be several more throughout the course. Letting out a soft sigh she unlocked her phone screen and sighed again when she realised she had another forty minutes left to suffer.

 

Amélie turned her attention to those around her and noticed several other students shared her feelings regarding the lecture as it was failing to hold their attention, most she didn’t care about, she shared this session with three of her friends, so she decided to see if she could figure out what they were doing to reduce their boredom.

 

The person she saw first was Hana Song, she had clearly lost interest some time ago as she had one her headphones tucked behind her hand as she leant against it and was watching something on her phone that was leaning against her pencil case hidden from view, the pencil case was facing towards to their tutor so she gave the vague impression that she was actually paying attention to them, every now and again the girl would make a few ‘notes’ although Amélie doubted she was writing anything that was remotely useful.

 

The second was Hanzo Shimada who surprised Amélie, it seemed he was actually paying attention to the tutor, his focus was seemingly on the electronic board at the front of the lecture theatre currently displaying various passages from Shakespeare. Amélie scrutinised him for a moment longer and nearly burst out laughing when she realised he was sleeping with his eyes open, she glanced at the tutor and waited for them to turn their back and she hurled her eraser at the back of Hanzo’s head.

 

“Sake!” He bellowed as he woke up which caused several around him to laugh, even the deeply distracted Hana looked at him.

 

“Mr Shimada” their tutor, Moore, said sternly “Kindly refrain from making a fool of yourself.” Hanzo simply nodded and sunk into his chair. Amélie couldn’t help but wonder what he was dreaming about.

 

The final friend sat to her right and after a brief chuckle at Hanzo’s outburst returned her attention to the sketch she was currently working on. Amélie couldn’t get a good look at it but she had been drawing it for most of the lecture, sat next to her was none other than Lena Oxton the walking enigma that occupied Amélie’s mind near constantly.

 

“Okay everybody” Moore called from the front of the class “Can I have everybody’s attention, that means turning off your phone Miss Song” Hana cursed and looked to the front as did several of the other students.

 

“The sooner we get through this last part, the sooner you can leave, I have no interest keeping you longer than you need be here on a Friday afternoon”

 

“Now that _some of us_ have covered Shakespeare” Moore continued “Can anybody tell me another author that was able to weave emotion into his works and use it to set a scene or use emotion as the background of their works and in other ways than that which is obvious” several students raised their hands “Miss Oxton”

 

“Edgar Allan Poe”

 

“Perfect, just the answer that I was looking for” Moore replied.

 

“Typical” Giselle chimed in “Of course she would know that”

 

“Miss Talon” Moore chastised “The general consensus is to raise your hand if you wish to speak”

 

“Yeah, leave her be” Hana snapped.

 

“No” Lena said and stood causing Amélie’s brows to shoot up in surprise “It’s okay”

 

“No, it’s not” Hanzo added.

 

“No, I mean, I can relate to his works because of what I’ve been through” Lena looked down and took a series of breathes.

 

“You do not need to talk about it Lena” Moore said softly, Giselle raised her hand and Moore nodded at her.

 

“Yeah she does” Giselle said “Isn’t that what you wanted? Examples” a shit eating grin spread across her face and Amelie wanted nothing more at that moment than to stand up, so she could walk over there and knock it from her face.

 

But Lena surprised Amélie yet again by looking directly at their tutor.

 

“May I speak?” Lena asked and with a frown Moore nodded.

 

“The narrator in The Raven is living in a house, and more so a specific room mourning for his lost love” Lena sighed “Much like I did for nearly a year after the accident that took my family from me, the accident that Giselle is so adamant that everyone knows about”

 

“I find a lot of what Poe writes to be similar to my own experiences. Lots of things remind me of what I lost, but now I am trying to move past it, I will never forget it and those scars will always be carried with me. But I find something else around me at the moment, a recurring theme between myself and the poem.” Lena sat back down “The Raven”

 

“The Raven?” Moore asked.

 

“Oh sorry” Lena replied, looking confused for a moment “The Raven is often seen as the root cause of the narrators final decent into madness. I thought it was obvious” she smiled before innocently adding “Giselle is my Raven”

 

Amélie burst out laughing, so did Hanzo and Hana among others, Lena looked confused giving an indication that what she didn’t realise what she had just done.

 

“Quiet down” Moore said sternly and eventually the laughter died down “That is a powerful observation Lena. Given Miss Talon’s actions I can see why you would make the comparison” Giselle went to speak but Moore held up a hand to silence her “We should all hope that we don’t experience tragedy’s such as Miss Oxton’s. But we should all endeavour to draw upon our sensations and feelings in life and share them with others” Moore looked directly at Giselle “But at a moment of our own choosing. Miss Talon I would like you to stay after class, now let’s continue to analyse Edgar Allen Poe, for the remainder of this session”

 

The rest of the lecture progressed without issue, Amélie took satisfaction in the fact Giselle had been forced into silence and even more when the lecture was over, and Moore took Giselle into the office at the side of the lecture theatre.

 

While everyone else packed up and left, Amélie quickly scanned the floor for her eraser, once she spotted it she deftly picked up and pocketed it before Hanzo could find it and finished packing her own things away and made her way out of the room upon realising that Lena had already left.

 

A few minutes later she found herself sat outside the science wing as she waited for Angela to finish her research. The downside of the university was that only students who took specific courses had access to certain blocks, there were no rules against her being allowed into the building in fact Angela had let her in several times, it simply came down to the fact that Amélie’s ID would not unlock the doors just like Angelas would not unlock the Arts wing. So as usual she sat on the low wall near the front door and checked her email and facebook.

 

A few minutes later Amélie was part way through checking her emails and reading recent facebook posts on her wall when she heard footsteps, so she looked up expecting to see Angela, but instead she saw Willow Baker stalking towards her.

 

“Look what the cat dragged in” Amélie said “Did she drag you through a bush first?” She added upon noticed her messy braid.

 

“HaHa” Willow said sarcastically “Giselle says to control your pet”

 

“Lena is not my pet” Amélie snapped “Now scurry back to your owner like a good little rat” she added and noticed Angela leaving the science block placing her messenger bag over her shoulder as she walked, the blonde frowned as she neared and heard the two women exchanging barbed words.

 

“Willow you missed class again” Angela chimed in.

 

“What’s is to you Ziegler?” Willow snapped turning to face her.

 

“Nothing really, but there’s an exam next month, you might want to attend a few lessons”

 

“I don’t even know why you bother attending at all” Willow said smiling wryly as she continued “Everyone knows you only get a passing grade because you shag the teacher.”

 

“Sleep with the teacher?” Angela looked confused as she spoke “That’s preposterous”

 

Silence fell across them and Willow smirked thinking she had won before Angela snapped her fingers and said the word “Trivia” in a cheery voice, Willow frowned.

 

Angela raised her hand and began reading off bones as she gestured to their specific locations with her other hand “Carpel bones, proximal row, scaphoid, lunate, triquetrum, pisiform, distal row, trapezium, trapezoid” Amélie was lost at this point as her friend continued “capitate, hamate and the there’s the metacarpal bones extending in three distinct phalanges” Angela had moved to her fingers now “Proximal, middle and distal”

 

Amélie looked at Willow who was now glaring.

 

“Do you know what they have in common?” Angela asked with an innocent smile, that Amélie almost believed was real.

 

“Duh! The hand” Willow snapped folding her arms.

 

“ _Nein_ , a fist” Angela said as she formed a fist and brought it into Willows nose, the women staggered back and Amélie gasped, Angela however took a step forward and Amélie half expected the blonde to hit Willow again.

 

“Oh, you poor dear” Angela said making it seem as though she was legitimately concerned “Your nose is dislocated” Angela reached out before Willow could move and took hold of it “Let me help!” She said cheerily and there was a cracking nose and Willow howled in pain.

 

“There, not my best work, but what can I say, I’m not a miracle worker!” Angela looked at Amélie and held out her arm “Shall we go Amélie?” They linked arms and walked back towards their dorm and Willow shouted angrily after them, but they paid her no attention.

 

“I can’t believe you actually hit her” Amélie said as they walked towards the dorms.

 

“What?” Angela said with a smirk “I can’t let you have all the fun _Liebling_ ”

 

They continued on their way back to the dorms and they talked about what they would be doing this weekend, when Angela reminded her of Lucio’s gig that evening. He had arranged the event last term, tonight’s was the first in a new series, Amélie was something of a fan favourite, it was hardly her fault people loved it when she sang, not that she denied she loved singing, she just preferred to do it on her own time and a DJ-Karaoke night was not a desired location.

 

Once they reached their building they waited for the elevator neither of them wanted to take four flights of stairs even if it was downwards. Once they neared their door Amélie swiped her ID and it unlocked.

 

If you were to ask either of them the question: what of all the things do you expect to greet you when you enter the dorm? Neither would guess correctly what they would find, as what they saw was not something either of them would ever expect to see.

 

Lena was sat in Amélie’s chair (well it wasn’t hers, but she had laid a claim the first day and no-one had objected) strumming a guitar neither had even seen before as Gabriel, Jack and Lucio sat watching.

 

“About time!” Olivia called from the kitchen “Coffee in the pot, right now we are all here _Speedy_ get playing!”

 

“Speedy?” Angela repeated back as she placed her bag on the table and started removing her coat.

 

“Have you not seen how fast that girl types! She gives me a run for my money then leaves me in the dust” Olivia smirked “Now be silent!” She demanded as Amélie began to pour herself some coffee.

 

Lena nodded at Gabriel and he spoke softly.

 

“One, two, three” he nodded twice more, and Lena began [playing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye5BuYf8q4o).

 

“Turn it up” he said with a grin as Lena continued to play flawlessly.

 

“Big wheels keep on turning, carry me home to see my kin” Gabriel sang.

 

“Singing songs about the south-land, I miss ‘ole ‘bamy once again and I think it’s a sin” Jack continued with a grin as big as his boyfriends.

 

Amélie wrapped her hands around her coffee as she watched her roommate play one of the groups favourite songs to perfection. Jack and Gabriel continued to sing the lyrics along as Lena played and the others bobbed their heads along happily. Lena continued unfazed and hit every note. When Amélie looked over at Lucio his eyes were wide, he clearly had ideas and with the pace he was tapping away at his laptop she knew he had some kind of plan forming in his head.

 

“Sweet Home Alabama. Where the skies are so blue. Sweet Home Alabama. Lord, I’m coming home to you” Jack and Gabriel sang in unison as Amélie raised her coffee to her lips and took a long drink.

 

When her glass hit the table, Lena had broken into the songs guitar solo as cheers rang out around them. Angela was one of the loudest and Amélie found the mood infectious as she cheered along with the other students around her in support of her friends.

 

Jack and Gabriel soon began to sing again, and Lena played, given how nervous she was and the fact she nearly didn’t go up on stage without prompting from Amélie and Angela, she was doing exceptionally well.

 

“Now muscle shoals has got the swamp era, and they’ve been known to pick a song or two” Gabriel sang out.

 

“Yes, they do” Jack sang as he picked up the lyrics “Lord they get me off so much, they pick me up when I’m feeling blue, now how bout you”

 

The song came to a close not long after and Lucio blended the backing track into some of the backgrounds tracks he used between Karaoke bouts, as Jack and Gabriel called for quiet.

 

“Now!” Jack called out “Are we in the mood?” The crowd cheered.

 

“You’ve heard me, and Jack sing this song many a time” Gabriel said putting his hand on Jacks shoulder “But today was a little different, lets have a cheer for Lena, who provided our Guitar work tonight.” The crowd cheered Angela once again being very loud next to Amélie. “All yours Lucy!”

 

“I do wish you wouldn’t call me that” Lucio responded with a chuckle “Who’s next?”

 

Amélie saw Lena return the guitar to its stand at the rear of the stage and watched her as she hopped off down and walked towards them, Amélie was about to move her chair further under the table so that the Brit could return to her seat, however the girl continued straight past her. Amélie noticed she looked rather pale and went to turn to Angela however there was the sound of a chair scrapping across the floor and a flash of white in her peripheral vision that meant that the medical student had seen it too.

 

Amélie excused herself and Angela when the rest of the group looked at her in confusion as she stood to follow. As she left Jesse moved his chair closer to Hanzo and placed his head on the man’s shoulder, they looked at the stage as Lucio began a set while the next singer got ready.

 

When Amélie got outside it took her a few moments to notice Lena and Angela. The blonde had Lena sat down on a low wall outside the club, there was very little light outside, only that generated by the sign above the door which gave everything a distinct purple hue. She glanced back the sign momentarily. Dorado, the bar just off campus.

 

She walked closer and could hear Angela guiding Lena through breathing exercises to calm her down.

 

“Keep it up Lena” Angela spoke softly, she could only just be heard over the music coming from inside. “In, out, in, out” she repeated the mantra a few more times as Lena took breaths, Lena had tears in her eyes, Angela looked over at Amélie. “She had a panic attack; her first instinct was fresh air”.

 

Angela moved from where she stood in front of the Brit and sat down next to Lena before placing a hand on her back, before looking at her downcast head and waiting, if anything Angela was the patient one of the group.

 

“T-thanks” Lena said “I-I got s-scared when I r-realised what I had d-done” Lena wiped her eyes on her sleeve and sighed “I h-haven’t p-played the guitar in p-public since… since” she started to cry again, and Angela pulled her into a hug.

 

“Since the accident?” Angela asked and Amélie bit her lip when Lena nodded, and she couldn’t help but think why the Brit didn’t say anything when they asked her to do this.

 

“We don’t have to talk about it _Liebling._ ” Angela said as she pulled away and lifted her chin up so that Lena was looking at her “What is important is that you are okay” Lena nodded.

 

“It was a s-song I taught E-Emily to p-play” Lena said wiping her eyes again and Amélie immediately understood, she walked forward, crouched in front of her and placed her hand on Lena’s shoulder “And m-mum loved to h-hear me play anything”

 

They sat in silence for a few minutes the only sounds being soft sobs, wind and the music inside, Amélie wiped tears from Lena’s eyes before they could fall. “I think they would be proud of you Lena” Angela said with a smile. Lena looked her in the eye with something akin to happiness and nodded.

 

“Shall we go back inside _Chérie_ ” Amélie said giving the girl a soft smile hoping to reassure her “I can buy you a drink and we can wait for the fun to start”

 

Lena wiped her eyes and gave a slight smile “F-fun?”

 

“Gabriel and Jack are still sober on Karaoke night” Angela said and stood holding out her arm, Lena stood and hooked one arm with Angela and the other with Amélie when offered.

 

“Not exactly sober, but trust us Lena” Amélie said with a smirk knowing what would happen “It won’t take us long and when they are drunk it will be hilarious”

 

Lena smiled as they walked into Dorado again, her eyes were still red, and her smile didn’t quite meet them, but Amélie could tell the small one they received was genuine.

 

Once they were back at the table Lena took her seat between Angela and Fareeha and the moment the Egyptian saw Lena she put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a half hug, whispering something in her ear causing Lena to nod. Fareeha looked back to the stage and didn’t move her arm, Lena moved closer and rested her head on her shoulder, as Jesse took the stage and began singing ‘Don’t stop believing’.

 

Olivia looked at Amélie and mouthed ‘One of us’ and Amélie smiled and raised her glass to her which the Spanish girl mirrored.

 

As the night went on several students Amélie didn’t know took to the stage between Lucio’s sets, some even tried to top Gabriel and Jack now that they had several drinks in their systems fuelling their actions, but they didn’t come close in Amélie’s opinion and she had to admit Lucio was a master at controlling the tracks and blending the karaoke songs into his mixes.

 

Within a few hours it was approaching midnight, the music had quietened down and was set to a pre-made mix of classic rock songs, the group were all sat around one small table with drinks and food between them, Amélie was sure she would have the makings of a hangover in the morning, but looking at the others she knew that she would be the least effected.

 

Angela who was the lightweight of the group had currently attached herself to Fareeha’s hip and was giggling maniacally to herself over a joke that Hana had told some five minutes earlier. The Korean herself was leaning against Olivia and had seemingly fallen asleep. The hacker raised her phone to take a selfie with her when Hana spoke and made her jump, so she nearly dropped her phone, which caused Lena to giggle from her new position next to Lucio and Gabriel, the DJ was currently nursing a drink as he needed to stay clear headed to finish his set. Gabriel however was whispering to Jack who was smirking. Fareeha rolled her eyes and Jesse and Hanzo cheered as they stood, the frown Genji gave them when he returned with a round of drinks make them falter.

 

Genji placed the tray slowly on the table and when he looked up at the group he smirked, when Amélie saw both the size and colours of the glasses she groaned. “Suicide Shots” Genji said “Ladies and Gentlemen, pick your poison”

 

It was not a surprise when Jesse immediately grabbed one of the darkest ones, no doubt whiskey. Once they all grabbed a drink Genji smiled and raised his glass. Amélie raised her own so they were all in the air, her glass held a clear liquid which she hoped was Sambuca and not Vodka.

 

“To friends” Genji said and then looked at Lena “New and Old” he smiled, and she smiled back. “Cheers!” He called out and took his drink in one, along with everyone else around the table.

 

Amélie thankfully had the Sambuca, which meant that… before she could look over Lena started coughing, she grabbed her what was left of her drink from the table immediately and took a long swig. The others laughed.

 

“Who drinks Vodka on its own!” Lena complained happily “Pah, Russians” she folded her arms and tried to pout, but she was struggling to hide her smirk, Amélie couldn’t help but wonder if this was what Lena was like without her troubles and if her being drunk was a peak at who she used to be and perhaps could one day be again, but if she was honest with herself she knows she would adore Lena in any reality.

 

Not long after Lucio left to go back to his decks and they watched him as he brought the music into a baseline. “Okay everyone, last set of the night.” He called cheerful and laughed before adding “Let’s break it down!”

 

Lucio began blending the music with something Amélie knew but couldn’t quite place, but Jack and Gabriel immediately perked up and both downed their remaining drinks and ran to the stage.

 

“Lucio, drop that beat” Gabriel said down the mic as Jack went to Lucio.

 

“Pump up the volume” Lucio called out with a grin as he handed Jack his mic and the sound of a piano getting louder as it faded in, when Gabriel started [singing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgzGwKwLmgM) she burst out laughing along with many others in the audience.

 

“Tonight, I’m gonna have myself a real good time, I feel alive and the world I’ll turn inside out – yeah and floating around in ecstasy”

 

Jack took over at this point. “So, don’t stop me now, don’t stop me, ‘cause I’m having a good time having a good time.”

 

They continued singing as people began clapping to the beat.

 

“I’m a shooting star leaping through the sky, like a tiger defying the laws of gravity” Jack sung out as he bopped on the spot, which Gabriel matched at his side as he picked up the lyrics.

 

“I’m a racing car passing by like Lady Godiva, I’m gonna go go go, there’s no stopping me” Gabriel picked up with a massive grin.

 

They continued singing getting more energised as they went, and bouncing around the stage, Angela and Lena at this point were in hysterics. Amélie herself lost her own composure when Gabriel looked straight at Jack and sang the line:

 

“I am a sex machine ready to reload, like an atom bomb about to, oh oh oh oh oh explode” Jack fighting his blush picked up the lyrics at this point and they continued singing in turns until Jack suddenly placed his arm around Gabriels shoulders

 

“That’s why they call me Mr Fahrenheit, I’m trav’ling at the speed of light, I wanna make a supersonic woman of you”

 

Amélie’s attention was pulled from the stage at this point by a chair moving and Lena bolting towards the stage, Lucio spotted her with a grin and worked his magic causing the track to loop as Gabriel and Jack cheered, she climbed up onto the stage and made straight for the guitar. Jack and Gabriel began chanting “Don’t stop me” and the crowd began joining in as Lucio brought the music back into play as a backing track and Lena broke out into the guitar solo. Amélie was surprised she was playing again but Lena seemed more reckless after she had a few drinks, she was sure now that this was the old Lena peeking through.

 

Cheers around Amélie prompted her to stand and shout cheer with them. “Woo _Chérie_!”.

 

Gabriel and Jack continued singing and Lena continued playing. Jack looked at Lucio as he brought the track to and end and threw the DJ his mic. Lucio caught it effortlessly and looked at Lena and raised a brow and the Brit nodded and he mouthed something to her Amélie didn’t manage to decipher.

 

Lucio smiled as he took centre stage mic in hand.

 

“This is the end of an evening” Lucio said after he raised the mic to his lips “I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for being a wonderful audience and participating in my event this evening” he laughed “I would especially like to thank Lena and her guitar, even though it was only a few songs, I think we can all agree she did a hell of a job and it seems she might do it more often!”

 

“Let’s here it for Lena!” Gabriel shouted, the audience chanted her name and Lena rubbed the back of her neck red in the cheeks.

 

It didn’t take long for most of the audience to file out of the place once it had all settled down, without music to listen to and a closed bar there was very little to do. Lucio stayed behind to sort out his equipment. Amélie and Fareeha, the only ones who were still somewhat sober found themselves playing designated driver, even though no car was involved they still had work to do keeping their rowdy friends on target back to their dorm block. It was going to be a long walk.

 

Amélie had to admit, not for the first time, that having all her friends in the same building and floor made this task easier, their dorms were across the hall from one another.

 

“Dammit Angela” Fareeha said distracting Amélie from her thoughts, she turned so she was looking back and saw the Egyptian reaching down to pull Angela to her feet. Amélie had to admit that the medical student was the hardest to look after when she was drunk, with her being such a lightweight it didn’t take much for her to get into this state, but the issue with her was that she became so stubborn when drunk. So, she wasn’t surprised that when the medical student refused to stand up. She was however when Fareeha grabbed Angela and lifted her over her shoulder holding her in place and began walking back to the dorm despite the blonde’s protests to be put down.

 

Amélie fell into step with Fareeha again and watched the rest of her friends who were walking ahead. Hana, Olivia, Jesse and Hanzo were at the front of the group walking arm in arm with their partners seemingly in some from of conversation, Amélie cast her gaze to the other three.

 

Gabriel was bouncing about singing ‘Living on a Prayer’ with Jack who was equally as energetic. Amélie allowed herself a smile she knew that the pair would be nursing hangovers in the morning, if they weren’t she would be surprised.

 

Lena was walking between with a massive grin on her face until she stopped in her tracks and told them to wait as she giggled to herself, they both looked at her expectedly until she asked Gabriel to repeat what he just sung, he frowned and looked confused, so Jack did it for him.

 

“Woah, we’re halfway there” Jack sang while laughing at Gabriels face.

 

“Woah, Chicken on a bear!” Lena bellowed and all three of them stopped for a moment and laughed but Lena wasn’t done, she smiled and continued “Take a wing, we’ll fry ‘em I swear” they once again descended into hysterics as they walked forward, Lena nearly lost her footing, but Gabriel caught her and pulled into a walking half hug.

 

Amélie laughed, even Fareeha was smirking, Angela was suspiciously quiet, Amélie looked at her and smirked as she shook her head, typical Angela.

 

“She’s fallen asleep” she said and Fareeha chuckled.

 

Once they entered the building that allowed access down to the dorms, they split into groups and caught different elevators, after a few moments Amélie’s arrived and once the doors opened she entered with Lena, Fareeha and the sleeping Angela along with Jack and Gabriel, Lena suddenly started giggling and Amélie looked at her when she spoke.

 

“Amélie, this morning we had an uplifting experience, but right now, it feels like a let down”

 

Jack and Gabriel burst into laughter, and Amélie just rolled her eyes, the joke was not that funny, she looked over at Fareeha who was biting her lip to try not to laugh, Amélie facepalmed.

 

Once they reached the dorms, Amélie fell into her chair and watched her friends shamble about, Olivia was missing, so she assumed that she must be with Hana across the hall. Fareeha disappeared into Angelas room no doubt to put the blonde on her bed.

 

Lena re-entered from their dorm room having changed her clothes and was now wearing a rather large t-shirt and some baggy pants, they were in no way flattering but suited her non-the less and looked comfortable, she sat on the sofa and leaned back happily before shutting her eyes.

 

Gabriel had already fallen asleep on the floor in the corner, which was where he let himself fall when they arrived back at the dorm and clearly couldn’t be bothered to move, Jack sat propped up against the wall nearby snoozing softly.

 

Fareeha reappeared a few moments later and gave Amélie a goodnight as she exited the dorm, before the door could close behind her Olivia and Hana were walking through it carrying something in their hands that Amélie couldn’t quite see but given the way they were whispering conspiratorially she knew they were up to no good.

 

Amélie pushed herself up and went over to get Lena and ask her to go to bed, but when she neared the Brit was clearly fast asleep already, so Amélie leaned forward and picked her up softly finding that she was surprising light even for her small frame.

 

She pushed open the door with her foot, which was still slightly ajar and walked over and placed Lena on her own bed before turning and moving the covers of Lena’s, she then picked up Lena and placed her softly in her bed so that her head rested on the pillows and pulled the covers over her gently.

 

“Good Night, _Chérie”_

 

Amélie left the room again to get a glass of water and what she saw made her chuckle, Hana and Olivia were huddled over Gabriel spreading something in his beard, she could clearly see that bottle now that it was on the coffee table, poor Gabriel would be waking with a patchy beard, or at worst no beard at all.

 

As much as they tried her patience at times, she wouldn’t trade her friends for the world. She walked back into her room and closed the door behind her, Lena was now clutching the covers into her chin and softly snoring, so Amélie placed the glass on her bedside table before changing and getting into her own bed, Lena would need the water in the morning, and Amélie had every intent of helping her recover from her hangover.


	5. Alive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our group decides to have some fun, we learn more about Lena and Amélie comes to a realization.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in the release of this chapter, I have only just got my internet back! 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy the chapter and thank you to all who have left Kudos and comments, they really make my day.

_When I was a girl, I had a fear of spiders, I was told they felt no emotion, that their hearts never beat, but I know the truth_ …

Amélie sighed as she watched the cursor flashing on the screen waiting for more input. It was a relatively simple assignment, three questions answered in the form of an essay, she glanced over at her notes.

 

_What is one of your fears?_

 

_Has this fear affected you in any way, or altered your perceptions?_

 

_How have you/what helped you overcome this fear?_

 

It was the final question she was struggling with, well that and the final aspect of the essay which was that the final paragraph had to start with the first sentence, now she knew she could just change her sentence but she refused, she was stubborn like that, so here she sat looking at her essay and thinking about the final question and how she could end the final paragraph.

 

The most annoying fact about the whole situation was that she knew that Lena and Hana had already completed it, she did not know how Hanzo had progressed, however she chose to assume he hadn’t yet completed it, it made her feel somewhat better.

 

Following Friday evening Saturday had been a day of recovery, it was now around 11am on the Sunday and the assignment was due tomorrow, if it were the afternoon it would have allowed her more time but unfortunately this was not the case and it was in the morning, her first period in fact.

 

She closed her laptop, folded her arms and watched her friends who were currently playing some new game that had been launched recently, she couldn’t recall what it was called, maybe Lookout or Viewpoint, it was definitely something along those lines. She wasn’t sure what the purpose of the game was but from a glance it seemed to involve uniquely designed characters performing impossible feats, she wouldn’t lie, it looked extremely fun.

 

“Defeat” came the voiceover as the same message appeared on the screen, Lena dropped her controller and raised her hands in exasperation.

 

“Cheers Loves!” She cheered with as much enthusiasm as she could muster as she watched the television play through the match’s end. “We lost the game!”

 

“Cheers Loves!” Came another voice, in a high-pitched squeal that Amélie assumed was supposed to be an impression of Lena, the Australian then continued in his usual tone “You’re not fucking helping”

 

Amélie chuckled which earned a look of mock horror from Lena as she put her hand over her heart, she then grinned and winked at her before looking directly at Jamison Fawkes.

 

“Oh yeah?” She challenged “At least I wasn’t leaving mines all over the place and launching grenades every two seconds!”

 

“It’s strategic” Jamison replied.

 

“Its bloody bollocks is what it is” Lena snapped back and folded her arms with a pout.

 

“Says you” Jamison laughed “At least I wasn’t running and bouncing all over the place like some jacked up wallaby”

 

“I was a distraction and I got more kills that you”

 

“Read it and weep!” Gabriel added happily from his position next to Jamison gesturing at his stats on the screen “Twenty-seven eliminations, highest damage and play of the game”

 

“Oh well done!” Jamison said and looked at him. “Your character is bullshit, I mean come on! You literally run around blasting anyone you see with shotguns, no fucking skill required”

 

“Yeah and what’s with the reload, you just bloody drop them, if you did that in real life you would kill more people with tripping incidents and half of them would be your own team” Lena added.

 

“Not to mention shotguns aren’t biodegradable” came a voice from behind Amélie and she smirked as Angela walked towards them and sat down next to her before continuing “You are basically littering” the others laughed and Angela winked at Lena.

 

“Those are your reasons…” Gabriel replied and trailed off for a moment before smirking “Looks like its amateur hour”

 

“Oh, that’s it!” Lena said as she glared at him “Bring it, me and you right here, right now”

 

Amélie smiled as Gabriel accepted and she moved her laptop from atop her knees to the coffee table and reclined further into the sofa to watch the chaos.

 

On the screen before her she saw that it was now split two ways as opposed to four, Genji who had been the fourth player of their group seemed to be interested in what was occurring but had chosen to remain silent.

 

Lena’s character was traveling rather fast and seemed to flash forward every so often, and Gabriel’s seemed to just walk around holding out two shotguns. Gabriel spotted Lena first and began unloading his weapons at her, but she flashed away and seemed to teleport back a few steps and regain some of her health points, Amélie frowned.

 

“Oh, come on!” Gabriel called.

 

“Skill bud” Jamison said.

 

“I agree, do not complain because you simply failed to kill her” Genji said with a smirk.

 

Lena killed Gabriel’s character and he snarled with rage as he re-spawned. As time went on it seemed to be a fairly even game, Gabriel activated his ultimate ability and his character spun around on the spot unloading his shotguns. He caught Lena twice, the first one with the ultimate the second by dropping down from above her blasting his shotguns into her back just after she re-spawned.

 

They continued until they were both one kill from victory. The score was tied. The room was in silence except the sounds of fingers on controllers.

 

Amélie watched as Lena and Gabriel’s character appeared on each other’s side of the screen, they charged at one another and Lena’s threw a grenade of some description that flashed the message ‘Stuck’ on the screen, Gabriel started blasting his shotguns at Lena as her character both jumped forward and ran away.

 

They died at the same time. Angela and Genji were silent, as dumbstruck as the players themselves. Amélie herself burst out laughing.

 

“Wait!” Jamison said through giggles of his own.

 

Lena’s side of the screen lit up with the word “Victory” and Gabriel’s with “Defeat”.

 

“Hell Yeah!” Lena screamed.

 

“Damn it” Gabriel said at the same time.

 

The pair looked at one another, there was an uneasy silence and Amélie found herself concerned for just a moment until they both fell back in fits of laughter.

 

Amélie was distracted by her phone going off on the coffee table, she reached over and grabbed it, once it was unlocked she read the message and grinned, she had been waiting for this moment since the end of last term.

 

“I shall be leaving soon” Amélie announced “There are Dance Try-outs in one of the studios in just under an hour, would anybody care to join me?”

 

“I don’t know Amés” Jamison said with a giggle “I don’t think I can keep up with those legs,” he gave her a wolf whistle and a wink.

 

Amélie stood and walked over slowly making sure to take her time, she knew that the way she moved made the leggings she wore emphasise her legs with every step as they tightened around her muscles, she leaned down towards him and smiled “Would you like to see them, _Chérie?”_ Jamison swallowed and she smiled softly “Perhaps we could arrange something… what do you say?”

 

Jamison blinked rapidly as she leaned forward, she almost laughed when he closed his eyes and puckered up as if expecting a kiss. She leaned past him and looked Lena in the eye. The brit’s eyes were wide, unlike Jamison she had realised that Amélie’s eyes were on her.

 

“Would you like to _come”_ she popped the word giving it more meaning, knowing full well that Lena would miss it and that Jamison’s dirty mind would latch onto it.

 

“It is not just dance students” she continued smiling down at the brit “Anyone can take part or you can come and watch” with the last words she smiled at Lena who gave her a nod.

 

Just over an hour later, the group except Genji made their way across to the one of the dance studios, when they arrived there was a rather large turnout but Amélie frowned when she saw Giselle, the girl gave he a sneer and a slight wave.

 

Ignoring her Amélie looked around the studio until her eyes fell onto the retro boom box sat on the floor near to a group of her friends from Dance Class. She had to admit the idea of dancing to an old-fashioned boom box was something that appealed to her, a blast from the past so to speak.

 

However, she became saddened when the boom box lit up with a series of blue lights, she sighed, it was a cleverly disguised Bluetooth speaker. She looked around as saw the person controlling and gave her a smile.

 

Brigitte waved at her for just a moment before returning her attention to her phone and began tapping away. Moments later the boom box sparked into life but from the redhead’s expression Amélie knew it to be an accident. That didn’t stop Jamison pushing past her though.

 

“This speech is my recital, I think it’s very vital, to rock (a rhyme), that’s right (on time) Its Tricky is the title, here we go.”

 

Amélie’s eyes widened as the Australian began doing a near perfect running man. The music cut off before the song progressed much further and Jamison groaned.

 

“Come on!” Jamison said spinning to face Brigitte “I was just getting my groove on!”

 

Before Brigitte could respond Giselle chimed in “You call that a groove?”

 

“Yeah what’s it to you bloody Drongo” Jamison snapped.

 

Brigitte eyed them both as they glared at one another and then Amélie noticed her look over at her, she shrugged and Brigitte smiled and Amélie’s eyes widened when she smirked and tilted her head to the side, Amélie moved her head from side to side to most people it would be a clear ‘No’.

 

“DANCE OFF!” Brigitte yelled at the top of her lungs when she had the attention of most of the room she continued with a shit eating grin that would make Hana Song proud. “Amélie and her friends versus Giselle and hers, winners get bragging rights and spots in the club!”

 

Giselle eyed Amélie and gave her a predatory smile “You’re on”

 

Amélie rubbed her face with her hands and gave a reluctant nod.

 

“Brilliant!” Brigitte chimed happily, she looked at Jamison who was still frowning and glaring at Giselle “Let’s start things with ‘It’s Tricky – RUN DMC”

 

Jamison moved back onto the floor and smiled as though he had already won, Amélie sighed and folded her arms as Giselle spoke to one of her minions, Tyler or Taylor she thinks he is called, not that’s its important.

 

“Show him how it’s done Trent” Giselle says as the man approaches Jamison.

 

Brigitte plays the music and a moment or two in Jamison launches back into the Running Man. Trent rolls his eyes and claps his hands once before launching into a series of break-dancing moves that were impressive Amélie had to admit.

 

“Point to Giselle” Brigitte says and begins shuffling though her phone, Giselle smirks at Amélie who smirks in return and mouths “It’s not over yet”.

 

“Lady Marmalade – Christina Aguilera” Brigitte calls out and Amélie smiles and turns to Angela who has the same smile on her cheeks.

 

“Your turn” Amélie said and Angela approached the middle of the room and stood on the dance floor smiling her beautiful smile. Her opponent stumbled over and seemed to glare at Giselle who herself didn’t look happy.

 

When the song began Angela’s opponent began bobbing on the spot and did a few overly complex moves that didn’t fit with the mood of the song. Angela however waited for the chorus and began her own variant of the hustle which matched the song near perfectly.

 

“Clear winner there, point to Amélie” Brigitte called after conferring with the other dance students.

 

Giselle cursed and snapped angrily at her returning dancer. Amélie ignored them and waited for Brigitte.

 

“Okay, let’s try something a little different” Brigitte had a smile on her lips as she spoke and Amélie knew it well from her experiences in dance class. “Another One Bites the Dust – Queen”

 

Amélie facepalmed she knew who Giselle would pick for this one, this was going to be impossible. Both she and Angela looked at Gabriel, who’s eyes widened.

 

“You know I can’t dance!”

 

“Yeah we know, but we are probably going to lose this one regardless” Angela said which caused Gabriel to sigh but nod and walk out onto the floor.

 

Sure, enough a moment later Giselle’s pick followed him out, Darren, Amélie’s dance partner on occasion, they tolerated each other, but were far from friends.

 

Once the music started, Gabriel crossed his arms and started tapping his foot to the beat and looked around the room. Darren however launched into a series of modern hip-hop like moves and Amélie was sure he was channeling Michael Jackson at points given his agility and movements.

 

Gabriel realised he was going to lose but, in the end, made some effort, Angela and Lena among others laughed when he started doing the robot, changing positions whenever the beat changed.

 

When it was all over Brigitte and the other dancers had smiles on their faces but Brigitte looked at Amélie sadly and then the rest of the congregation and spoke.

 

“As funny as Gabriel’s Robot was, Darren wins that round”

 

Amélie watched as Darren approached Giselle, she patted him on the back in a congratulatory way while keeping her crocodile smile, she looked at Amélie meeting her eyes, Amélie did nothing in return but she did not look away until she did.

 

“Okay next up!’ Brigette said eying Amélie with a grin causing the French girl to frown. “Hush Hush – Avril Lavigne”

 

Amélie didn’t even think, she walked forward and got ready to dance, she smiled at Giselle as she pushed Willow forward with a glare.

 

The moment the song started Amélie began moving slowly in basic ballet moves with the intent progressing in complexity as the song played. She closed her eyes and focused on the music. She didn’t care what Willow was doing, she brought her leg into a high kick and smiled as she brought it down and brought her hands into her chest, she opened her eyes and saw that Willow was trying to copy her so she smirked and brought herself into a spin and leaned forward reaching out to Lena and actually blew her a kiss. At that point Amélie was rewarded with two things, a blush from Lena and Willow sighing and walking off the dance floor.

 

Brigitte stopped the music and gave Amélie the point which brought them even.

 

It took a few minutes for Brigitte and her group to pick the next song, during that time Amélie realised that the last of their group to dance was Lena and that she would be facing Giselle. From the look on Angela’s face it was clear that she had also come to that conclusion.

 

“Okay the final two will be dancing to Candyman – Christina Aguilera” Brigitte said while Giselle was already walking out, she even had the gall to beckon to Lena.

 

Lena took a breath and walked out. After a few moments the music started and Giselle launched into a series of dance moves that matched the song but it was not perfect. Even Amélie reluctantly had to admit that she was good, she always was, not that she would openly admit it but her skill at dancing was one of the things that drew her to Giselle in the first place, it was just the way she moved.

 

Lena however had yet to move at all, she was biting her lip and was clearly nervous Amélie looked at her and gave a soft smile as Brigitte cut the music.

 

“Let’s do that again” the redhead said.

 

“Bullshit she didn’t move, so I win” Giselle snapped pushing past Lena to square up to Brigitte, the redhead however was taller and looked down at her unimpressed.

 

“My rules, this is the first time she’s been here, so we go again” Brigitte said slowly.

 

Giselle huffed and returned to her place, Lena looked at Amélie and then to Brigitte and then nodded.

 

The music began again and Giselle proceeded as before, and there were a few claps, Lena once again hadn’t moved but she was bobbing her head slowly, so Amélie knew she was waiting for the right moment, and when the chorus hit she moved.

 

As the song progressed cheers spread around them and Amélie cheered with them as Lena moved along to the beat with a perfectly executed Charleston. Giselle had stopped and was glowering at the Brit as if her gaze would set her on fire.

 

When the song was over Brigitte declared Lena the winner, which meant Amélie had won. It took her a few moments to register that fact and she laughed, she actually laughed. Angela pulled her into a hug and Gabriel joined in.

 

Lena approached but before she could reach them Giselle intercepted her and Amélie moved forward as she began talking.

 

“I must say, for a beginner you handled that well” Giselle was saying “As much as I hate to say nice things to you of all people credit where credit is due”

 

“What do you want Giselle?” Amélie asked.

 

“Oh, I just came to congratulate you and Lena on your win”

 

“I find that hard to believe”

 

“Well that and to tell Lena to quit while she’s ahead” Giselle said as Willow handed her what looked like a slowly melting iced coffee, she took a sip and continued “I don’t appreciate competition as you well know” she looked at Amélie as she said this and then moved her gaze back to Lena as if waiting for a response.

 

“It was fun” Lena said simply “Why can’t we all just get along for once?”

 

“If only it were that simple” Giselle said and gave a sad smile as she opened her hand.

 

The coffee fell from her hand and dropped at Lena’s feet causing it to splash upwards and cover the Brit in coffee. Lena squeaked and jumped backwards.

 

“My jacket!”

 

“ _Darling_ ” Giselle said patronisingly “That jacket is horrid, you would do well to…” she trailed off as she looked down and Amélie fought her anger to follow the girls gaze but Lena was faster, Amélie saw the Brit look down and give a horrified noise as she pulled her jacket closed before running from the room.

 

Giselle laughed at the sight. “Buh bye!” She called after her giving a patronising wave.

 

Amélie glared at her and ran after Lena, as she exited the room she heard the sound of flesh meeting flesh, a thud, Willow calling out to Giselle and Angela chastising Gabriel.

 

Amélie reached the dorms and swiped her card unlocking the door, there were no signs of anyone, she looked around, none of the lights were on in the main room but the back wall was illuminated meaning that the light in the bathroom was. Amélie approached the room, the door was slightly ajar, she pushed it open, nobody was inside but Lena’s discarded t-shirt was sticking out of the wash basket, Amélie doubted the coffee stains would be removed given the shirt was white, but they could try. She glanced around and noticed a wet towel on the floor.

 

She crouched down and picked up the towel and looked at it, she sighed, brought it to her face and groaned into it. Why had things got so complicated?

 

She dropped the towel in the wash basket and made sure the t-shirt was all the way in before leaving, there was only one place Lena would be, so she walked over to their dorm room, she tried the door and was not surprised when it was locked.

 

“Lena please open the door” she said softly, there was no response, she knocked softly and still received no response. “Please Lena?”

 

She sighed and placed her head against the door. “Lena let me in, I promise I didn’t see anything, I just want to make sure you are okay”

 

She was about to give up when she heard footsteps on the other side of the door and the lock click open, the door didn’t open and she heard footsteps moving away from her. After a moment she opened the door and entered as Lena sat back down on her bed and pulled her knees into her chin, hugging them close.

 

Amélie closed the door, locked it again and sat opposite her cross legged on her own bed and waited. Lena was dressed in fresh clothes, a plain red button up shirt and some baggy grey cargos, after a few awkward moments of silence Lena spoke.

 

“I can’t do this” Lena mumbled.

 

“Can’t do what?” Amélie asked, it took Lena a moment to answer.

 

“Be here” Lena replied sadly “I-I… I thought leaving London would help me” she sighed “But every-time I try I get knocked back” she went silent for a moment “I’m broken”

 

“You are not broken” Amélie said softly and moved forward so she was sat on the edge of her bed.

 

“You don’t see it” Lena said “You don’t know, neither does Giselle, but she saw” Lena was close to tears and she moved her legs and unbuttoned the top of her shirt and showed Amélie part of her chest.

 

Just above her heart was a scar, a perfect line, around it were several smaller jagged ones. Amélie couldn’t help it, she froze up and gasped. Lena buttoned her shirt back up and looked at her lamp on her bedside table.

 

“Lena” she trailed off “I don’t know what to say”

 

“My heart is damaged” Lena said in monotone before she sighed and looked back at her, her eyes were glistening but she didn’t allow her tears to fall “When I was in surgery I died three times, the doctors don’t think they could get my heart going if it stopped again”

 

“Can you not get a transplant?” Amélie asked.

 

“I don’t qualify, even if its fucked, it still works, so I’m very low on the list” Lena replied “I have medication to help, but I have to keep active otherwise it could get worse, I tend to go for jogs in the morning before anyone wakes up”

 

“Ah, so that’s where you are some mornings” Amélie said and Lena looked surprised for a moment.

 

“Uh yeah” she rubbed the back of her neck “Jogging around the park”

 

“How about I join you?”

 

“What?” Lena’s brow shot up at that point.

 

“On your morning jogs? Amélie smiled across at her “It will be cheaper than my gym membership” not that she had one, but Lena didn’t need to know that.

 

“That would be nice” Lena smiled.

 

“Then it is settled” Amélie said and moved to sit next to her and pulled her into a hug, the Brit rested her head on her shoulder. “Just so you know we won’t let anything happen to you” Amélie said as she pulled away and Lena nodded “In fact, Gabriel already hit Giselle as I left the dance studio”

 

“H-he did?”

 

“ _Oui”_ Amélie smiled when Lena looked at her with a grin “You are one of us Lena, one of our rag-tag little family” Amélie ruffled her hair and chuckled when the brit glowered at her. “How about we go into the kitchen and steal two of Gabriel’s beers?’ Lena nodded and they stood up.

 

Once they were outside their room, they noticed Gabriel who waved at them and was promptly cuffed around the back of the head by Angela.

 

“I told you to keep it on the ice pack!” Angela snapped and turned to Lena. “Are you okay, _Liebling?_ ”

 

Lena nodded and told them about her heart, Angela scooped her up in a hug and said she would help her in any way she could, Gabriel made a joke about how he would hug her but the ice pack was cold, Lena hugged him anyway.

 

It was at that moment that Gabriel saw Amélie over Lena’s shoulder as she popped the caps off two of his beers.

 

“Those are mine!” He said as her pulled away and once again pointed with his injured hand, Angela cuffed him once more and he groaned and placed his hand back in the ice pack, as Lena giggled, Amélie gave her one of the beers.

 

“They were” Amélie said taking a swig “But now they are ours, isn’t that right Lena?”

 

The Brit nods in response with a smirk as she takes a sip.

 

“Fine, fine” Gabriel relents “Pop me one” he looks over at Angela as Amélie sets her bottle down and turns towards the fridge. “Want one?” Angela thinks for a moment and gives a nod, Gabriel goes to stand up but Angela pushed him back down and walks over to take the beers Amélie offers.

 

After a few minutes they are lost in conversation, Angela is sat on the floor near Lena’s feet who is sat in Amélie’s chair, Gabriel is reclined on one half of the sofa with his injured hand sat on the ice pack. Amélie smiles at her friends and watched them from the kitchen counter as she sips at the beer in her hand. She focuses on Lena and watches her intently.

 

The girl seemed to have forgotten her worries, Amélie knew she hadn’t, but she was at least distracted and Amélie hoped that she had manage to assuage some of the doubts she had, in truth Amélie had grown accustomed to having her around and could no longer picture her life without Lena in it.

 

That’s when it hit her, she walked over and took a seat next to Gabriel, she placed her beer on the coffee table and grabbed her laptop from where she had left it earlier and opened it up, after putting in her password she was greeted by her essay and began typing.

 

Lena and Angela were lost in conversation, Gabriel however watched what she was typing not that Amélie noticed, when she was done she smiled to herself and felt a hand on her shoulder, she looked over and Gabriel nodded to the computer and raised a brow, Amélie thought for a moment and glanced at Lena, she looked back at Gabriel and bit her lip as she nodded.

 

Gabriel gave her a knowing smile and returned his attention to the duo on in front of him, Amélie glanced at her screen and read the last paragraph one last time before she hit save, she closed her laptop retrieved her beer and smiled.

 

_When I was a girl, I had a fear of spiders, I was told they felt no emotion, that their hearts never beat. I was betrayed and my heart broken, it hurt more than I care to admit, it was at that moment I sought to be one of those spiders, I let myself feel no emotion, I felt surprised that my heart ever beat. Now that has changed, I know the truth. Since the moment Lena walked into my life, I have never felt more alive._

 

**_~ End of Part One ~_ **


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